The Ember Alchemist
by CrimsonLuna
Summary: Ed and Al were in a desert town on another dead end mission when they meet a peculiar girl named Amber. Having traveled from Xing, the girl has a mission of her own, and it just so happens that Ed and Al are the ones to help her. The two boys soon learn of her mission, and along with it, a dark secret.
1. Chap 1: Pay Up

**Chap. 1: Pay Up!**

Amber grumbled.

She was so damn hungry, but she had no money. She'd just made it to one of the eastern border towns, next to the desert- having just crossed the treacherous terrain.

And she just _had_ to come upon a prosperous town too! Even if she had money, it'd be a pricy meal.

Gerrrrrmmmmm~….

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up, would you?" she muttered as she leaned against the small pony she was riding on. Her stomach had been getting loader and loader, and it was making her wonder if people could hear the beast.

Sighing, she dismounted. She horse. It was by no means a prize pony. It was short and stubby, had long, straggly fur, hair in tangles. Sand crusted all over, making its chestnut coat look more like a… well… sandy brown.

But, if she could get it cleaned, she might just be able to sell it and get some money to start her out.

Looking at the horse again, she sighed in dismay. "This is going to take some work."

Grabbing the lead rain, she walked through the crowd to an in-wall fountain. She unsettled the horse; putting the stuff in eyesight- she did not trust anyone. Once the horse was completely bare but for the rains, she took the bucket that was under the fountain and filled it with water.

She splashed it over the pony's back, and it seemed to like the cool water hitting it after days in the desert. Some of the sand washed away and fell to the ground, but a lot of it just caught on to other clumps and stayed. She had to comb her fingers through the shaggy fur to loosen them, and then splash more water on the horse.

Over and over, she continued this. She spent a painstaking long time on the stocky legs, making sure they were nice and clean. Even more time on the horses' hair, which was a bit harder, as the hair was almost the same color of the sand, a cream brown.

But finally, her work was rewarded with a clean, burning chestnut gleam, and the hair was a bit straighter.

It looked presentable enough. To the point they could get an accurate inspection.

"Alright, you're ready. Let's go." She said, grabbing the lead rains. She picked up her small packs that were on the saddle, and slung them over her back. She then put the saddle on the pony.

This was the part she hated.

"Oh come on! It's a great horse! Perfect for carrying things!" she fumed at a farmer.

Talking to people.

"Sorry, but I have no need of a horse. And I don't have the resources or time to care for another horse." The man's sentence sounded fine enough, but his voice told his anger.

"He's probably more able bodied than any of the ones you have! Look at those muscles! Plus, look at how small this thing is, it wouldn't be a problem of taking up space-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SHORT THEY COULDN'T EVEN BEAT AN AMEBA IN COMBAT?!"

Ed and Al had been walking through the prosperous town of Ekval. It was small, but a great tourists spot.

They'd been walking by a girl that was yelling at a man. She suddenly gestured in Ed's direction.

"He's probably more able bodied than any of the ones you have! Look at those muscles!"

Ed grinned. He didn't know why he was suddenly being pulled into this, but hey, the girl-

"Plus, look at how small this thing is, it wouldn't be a problem of taking up space-"

JUST CALLED HIM SMALL!

Amber blinked and looked up to see a golden haired boy trying to run at her, the only thing keeping him in place while he tried running, was a man in a suit of armor.

She looked around to find that the pony had sprinted off, having been frightened by the boy.

Gapping in surprised rage, she watched it escape, and knew she'd never be able to get it.

"No!" she yelled in frustration. Her eye twitching, she turned a kunai throwing gaze at the boy.

"You! You scared my horse off!" she said, stomping up to the guy, getting right in his face.

The man in the armor spoke, and Amber found it odd how his voice sounded so… young.

"Sorry! Brother thought you called him short, and…well… he…."

"I'M NOT SHORT!"

"He doesn't take well to being called…. That." The man said, sounding apologetic and emmbarresed.

Her eye still twitching, she straightened.

"Hummm…. Now you owe me… _runt_."

"Tick! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Brother!" the man said, exasperation in his voice.

"You'll pay me for the horse you lost me. I was trying to sell it. I want my pay."

"Yeah, sure." The man said, and pulled out a wallet from his brother's coat.

"Hey! Al, give that back!"

"No brother. We owe her." The man fished in the wallet and looked up at her, holding out some bills, "Will this be sufficient?"

Amber took the money and counted. Pursing her lips, she nodded. "It's good. You pay honest. I like that." She managed a smirk- a bit devilish in its own way- at the taller of the two.

"Hehe… yeah, we're really sorry about the horse."

"It's fine. You paid at least." She said dismissively. She decided she liked them. Sure, the runt hadn't exactly been kind yet, but something about him told her he could be. Plus, he had a fiery temper, much like her own. It was funny. And it'd be fun to rile him up.

"So, what's your names?"

"I'm Alphonse Elric. This is my big brother Edward, but we call him Ed."

Amber grinned. "A shortened name for a short guy. Haha…."

"Tick…. GAH! LET ME AT HER!"

"Hahaha… Actually, we both have our names like that. I'm called Al for most."

Amber nodded. "And my names Amber Ameira." She held out her hand to shake hands with Ed.

Looking at it with distain, he held out his hand and shook it. Amber blinked down at the hand in surprise. Looking up at the boy, there was a knowing look in her eyes, although it was mixed with sympathy.

"You have automail…?" she said, making it sound more like a statement more than question.

He blinked and took his hand back. "Yeah… How'd you know…?"

"One leans the signs when they live with it constantly." She said, smirking sadly, looking up at him. She realized the color of his eyes then as well. Almost like hers, only a bit more on the gold side, where as her's had a red tint in the gold.

Her stomach chose then to make its demands known again. She flushed slightly in embarrassment, as both boys looked in surprise at her.

"Heh… Crossing the desert from Xing ain't no fun trip." She said, smiling a bit.

"If you want, we could treat you to dinner?" Al offered.

"No, you've already paid a fair amount for the horse. Equivalence."

Ed blinked. "So you're an Alchemist too, huh?"

"Yup. I've also studied Alkahestry. Really, anyone that's an Alchemist in Xing is also an Alkahest."

"Still, we want to treat you to dinner. How about it be to make up for bother's behavior earlier." Al said.

"Hey…" Ed muttered, sounding offended.

Amber smiled. "I guess that could work for Equivalence."

Ed and Al blinked at the girl. She tore into the food like a ravenous animal.

"Geez… and I thought you ate bad, Ed…." Al said.

"…Yeah….." Ed said.

Finally, she'd finished her meal- three rice bowls, with pork, a slab of steak, and three salads.

"Ahhh…." She said, and sat back in contempt. "Much better…."

"What about your milk- ah!"

Amber had sent Al a kunai throwing glare. "Why should I drink the secretions of a cow? Have you seen where it comes from? Those…. Squishy and wrinkly, dangly bits…" She shuddered.

Al sat back in astonishment. Ed leaned forward with a glean in his eye.

"Someone finally gets it!" he said.

Amber looked at him. "You think the same thing?!"

"Yes! It's like drinking throw up!"

"I know!"

Al shook his head. Who would have thought….?

Deciding he should change the subject before they started a campaign to band milk, he said, "So, Amber, what brings you here? All the way from Xing?"

Amber looked back up at Al, shrugged. "Oh, I wanted to become part of the military. A State Alchemist."

"You too, huh?" Ed said, eyeing her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah… Why, you thinking on becoming one as well?"

Ed grinned. "Nope. Already am." He pulled his watch out.

"No way! That's so cool…" she said, looking at it.

He put the watch away and nodded. "So, why would you want to be one though?"

She shied away at this. "Ah… personal reasons…. Some I can't tell you."

"Some…? But that means there is still some you can…" Al said, but not in a pushing, prying way.

Amber nodded her head, "Yeah… Heh… I'm kinda wanting to find my dad. I don't know his name, or where he is. All I know is that he's a State Alchemist."

Ed an Al nodded. Now that she said that, they couldn't help but notice how she looked… familiar somehow.

As they were walking through the inn they had gotten rooms at- Amber had gotten one as well- Ed and Al continued to look at her and try and find what was so familiar about her.

Raven black hair; lean face; slightly pointed nose; devilish smirk… If it weren't for the amber colored eyes, and her obvious femininity, she'd look almost exactly like…..

"No way!" both Ed and Al shouted as they looked at her, and then at each other.

"What? What is it?" Amber said surprised, having been lost in thoughts of how her first encounter with her father might go.

"Ah…. Well… it's just that…" Ed mumbled.

"Well, we think…." Al said.

"We might know him…" Ed finally said.

Amber blinked at them. "Really?!"

"Ah… yeah… we kinda work under him…" Ed said.

"So you can lead me right to him!"

"Yeah… I guess…" Ed said.

"Thank god! I thought I'd have to look everywhere to find him." Amber said, and couldn't help but hug Ed. Ed blushed, both because of the suddenness of it, and because he felt that she had a full arm of auto mail.

"Ah… I guess we could head out whenever you want… Al and I are done here…"

Amber coughed a bit, and pulled back, biting her lips. After a second, she smiled. "Thanks so much."

She then bounded to her room happily.

"One strange girl…" Ed muttered as he walked into the room next to her's, Al following.

"Got that right…." Al said, chuckling as he remembered the milk.

Taking off his trench coat and black coat, he hung them on the coat rack. Al was about to walk over to the couch when he paused and looked at the long red coat.

"Hey Ed, is your arm port bleeding?" he asked.

Ed raised an eyebrow and looked at the bear skin around the port. "No… why?"

Al picked the coat off the rack. Walking over, he pointed to a still wet bit of blood, some of it having soaked into the coat. It was about fist size.

"Where'd this come from?" Al asked.

Ed took the coat. It was on the side his arm port was. He looked again at the border of skin and metal, pulling back the strap of his muscle shirt to see better. There was nothing but scare tissue, skin and metal.

"I'm all good…." He said. He looked at the blood and thought back, trying to think of when it could have gotten there. He knew it had to have been recent, as it was still being absorbed by the fabric of the coat.

He then recalled Amber having coughed. He'd assumed it'd been out of embarrassment of her sudden hug, but now that he thought back, he remembered seeing a slight drop of blood on her chin and a bit around the rim of her lips.

Just then, they heard someone coughing. It was continuous and sounded strained. They just managed to stand up when there came a final hitching cough and then a very audible THUMP as someone hit the floor from standing.

His eyes widening at Al, he sprinted out of the door, and was at Amber's with a leap. He tried the nob, but it was locked. Cursing, he transmuted a hole in the door and walked in. Looking around, he saw that there was small spittles of blood with larger bits doting the floor. He cast his gaze around more and saw someone's feet poking out from behind the couch.

He sprang over the coffee table and jumped over the couch.

"Amber!" he yelped, seeing her laying on the floor. She was belly down, her face turned so he could see one eye, which was cracked open slightly. She had blood trailing from her mouth. He would have thought she were dead if it were not for the deep drafts of air she seemed to be forcing in.

"Al, call a doctor!" Ed called to his brother, who was peering in through the hole in the door.

"Right!" Al said and disappeared, his metal body clanking as he ran down the hall to find a phone.

He knelt down and picked her up slightly.

"Hey, Amber, can you hear me…?" he said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"…es…" came her raspy replay.

"Listen. Can you tell me what's wrong? Are you sick?" he asked.

"…o…tomail…eart…" she said, her voice just managing to work out that.

"What…?" Ed asked, having not understood.

She shook her head just enough to let him know she could say no more. Her voice had failed her, and she could not speak.

Instead, she pointed to his automail arm and then at his heart.

Ed shook his head, not understanding what it meant, though he thought he had a vague idea. But he didn't have time to figure it out. Just then, a man ducked in under the door, Al following after he unlocked the door and pushed the door open.

The man went over to her and Ed.

"What happened?" the man asked, flashing a light in her eyes.

"We heard her coughing and then heard her fall. I rushed over here and found her laying here." Ed said quickly as he carefully got up to allow the man some room.

"Has she said anything?"

Ed nodded. "I asked if she could hear me. She said yes… I asked her if she was sick, but… I didn't really catch what she said…"

"Thank you. We'll need to bring her to the hospital to keep her stable. It's a good thing you got help when you did."

Ed nodded. He and Al lingered and the man looked at them. "You can go back to your rooms. I'll have someone contact you to tell her she's fine…"

The boys looked uncertain, but relented. There wasn't much that they could do anyway.

Turning they went into the hall.

Al went for their room, but Ed continued walking past. "I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to make a call…" he called back, but didn't wait for a reply.

Walking down the hall, he found the phone booths. Picking up one, he gave it change and dialed the number.

"Hello…?~ This is Garfile speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hey, Mr. Garfile, it's me Edward Elric."

"Oh! Mr. Elric. I assume you wish to speak to Winry…"

"Yeah, if she's there…"

"Just wait one moment…."

He heard the click of the phone being set down and the static silence. Then he heard hurried footsteps and the phone being picked up. Before he could say anything, Winry said, "Edward, if I find out that you have broken or even dented to the smallest degree my automail, I'm going to kill you when I come to fix it!"

Ed held the phone away from his ear, wincing. Bring it back he said, "Hey, come on. Not so load, huh?"

"What is it Ed? What broke this time?" Winry said.

"…Nothing…." Ed said, "It's just that… I have a question…"

Winry could hear the undertone of worry. "What is it, Ed?" she said, much calmer now.

"I… meant a friend over here at the east. She's from Xing, and just crossed the desert…. And, well… She just coughed up a lot of blood…"

Ed heard a sound that signified that Winry had gripped the phone tighter. "Okay…?"

"And well… when I asked if she was sick… she said no… and something else… I didn't really get what it was, but when I asked for her to repeat, she couldn't speak. Instead… she pointed to my automail arm, and then at my heart…. I think…. Winry, is it possible to have that kind of automail?"

Winry gaped. "I… I think so… It seems possible… It just seems like such a dangerous prosier, especially if it's dealing with a organ like the heart."

"But.. what could possibly cause such a thing…? I mean… how was it she ended up with one?"

"I don't know, Ed." Winry said, her voice lined with worry. "Is she… okay?" she asked.

"I don't know yet. She's being taken to the hospital now-", he looked down the hall to see people carrying her out on a stretcher. "Thanks Winry…" he said before hanging up.

**_AN: Hey guys! I've been working on this off and on for a while, always meaning to upload it and see what ya think, but I always got side tracked. I only have 4 chapters so far, but am hopefully going to have more soon. So, R&R to let me know how you feel about it! _**

**_Please keep the flames to a minimum too. If I've misspelled something, then its because I didn't see it, because I went over this thing five times- you have no idea how boring reading something five time in a row can be!- and so I should have gotten everything except maybe names. Just know that even if I do have errors, I might not fix them for a while, but it is still good to inform me so that I _know_ they're there. _**

**_Alright, well, go and read the next chap. if you like the story. Hope to see some reviews soon! _**

**_Bye!_**


	2. Chap 2: My Punishment

**Chap. 2: My Punishment**

The two hadn't slept all night, and Ed had told Al of what he found out- or at least what he was sure of. Al had gasped in utter shock that there could be automail for something such as a heart. He wondered what had caused her to be given such a burden.

It was late morning when they finally got notification on how Amber was.

Once they heard that she was feeling much better, they rushed down to the hospital.

Ed got to her door in the hospital and knocked.

"Come in…" came Amber's voice. It sounded much better, but still held a bit of a croak.

Ed opened the door and the two brothers walked in.

Upon meeting Amber's eyes, the girl smiled apologetically. "Hey… sorry for the scare last night…"

"What?! Are you crazy?" Ed said, setting the flowers he'd gotten for her on her nightstand. "For one, that was more then a 'scare'. And for two, why should you apologies? It's not like it's your fault."

She snorted slightly to that, but didn't say anything.

"So… I didn't quite hear you… last night. When I asked if you were sick? But… I think I know what you meant now…"

Amber looked down at the bed sheets sadly. "It's probably not as bad as you might think…"

"Oh yeah? And how is having an automail heart not that bad?" Ed asked, though he didn't really know why it sounded scornful.

She shook her head, a smirk on her face. "It's not my whole heart. Just a quarter of it…"

Ed and Al flinched. Somehow, in their minds, it seemed worse than a full automail heart.

"Huh… it does tend to be a pain at times thought… literally. It puts a bit more weight in my chest, and makes it hard to sleep sometimes. And then there's the coughing fits that lead to throwing up blood…"

They fell silence for a bit, lost in thought. Finally, Ed could take it no more.

"How… did it happen? How did you come to have to take on an automail arm and part of your heart?"

She smiled bitterly. Then said, "I'll tell mine, but you'd have to tell yours. Though… I think I have an idea of what it is, considering, you Al, aren't in a suit of armor, but are the suit of armor…"

Al gasped. "When did you find out?"

Amber waved a dismissive hand. "Not that hard if you just listen. Not to mention the way you move. A person in that would never be able to move as smoothly as you do…" she shrugged, as if it were obvius.

"So… will you tell us…?" Ed asked.

"Will you tell yours?" Amber asked back, straight faced.

Ed looked at her in determination. "Of course. It'd only be fair…"

Amber nodded. Sighing, the began. "You were wrong- or at least, not completely right. I do have an automail arm, and a bit of the heart. But my whole right leg and half of my left leg are automail as well." She pulled the blanket off her legs, showing slim, finely crafted automail legs.

Ed and Al looked at her in shock. "What happened…?" Al asked, horrified.

"I lost my mother…" she said, her eyes glazing over, haunted.

Ed and Al gasped. Al reached out a hand for comfort, but Ed beat him to in, walking forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and gold met amber.

Ed nodded encuragment, and she nodded back, acknowledging his help.

"The lord of the land we lived on had seen me and wanted me. My mom refused to let him have me, and instead traded herself for me… A month later, he got drunk- mad that he still didn't have me… and… killed her… right in front of me… he made me watch…." She shuddered at the repulsive memory.

Drawing in a breath to calm herself, she went on.

"I wanted her back so badly… I thought I could do it too… using my knowledge of Alkahestry… I figured I had a chance… I was a fool. I should have known better… If it were possible to bring someone back using the Xing style of alchemy, it would have been down long before I thought of it."

She had tears running down her face, and her teeth were clenched. Ed put an arm around her for more comfort.

Sniffling, she continued. "When the Gate opened, I was pulled in. At first, I was stunned by all of the… knowledge there was. It was all being poured into my brain… And then I saw the children of the Gate taking my limbs. Then, I saw her. I saw my mom. She reached out for me, before I could reach out for her, I felt as if I were being ripped apart from the inside.

"When I finally came to, I already had the automail. I'd been asleep a full month since they'd found me and took me to the mechanics."

She fell silent then, done with her story.

After a couple minutes of silence, for everyone to collect themselves, Ed spoke up.

"We… lost our mom too."

Amber looked up in surprise, and a tear escaped.

Ed nodded. "Yeah… She died of a sickness… She died waiting for our dad…." His voice grew bitter, and his fist clenched.

"We couldn't imagen living without her… so we devoted all of our time, every second we had, to the research. Shortly after we came back from training with a… scary teacher… we were ready… Or so we thought. Al lost his body, and I lost my leg. In order to save Al, I traded my arm for his soul. I managed to bind his soul to the armor."

"When I woke up," Al continued, "I saw Ed in a pool of blood… And… that thing… we created…" Al shuddered. "After I was able to compose myself, I got Ed over to our family friend's house. They were and still are Ed's mechanics…"

They fell silent again.

Ed was the one to break it again, having wondered something for a while now. "So… why did you join the military? Is it to get your body back, like us?"

Amber looked up with a sad smirk. "No. I simply want to get into the army because of the work my heart needs. It's expensive. I had to give my home away just to pay off the det. Working for the military will give me health benefits and the money to pay for anything that needs working on with my heart."

Ed and Al sputtered.

"But if it's so hard to deal with, then why keep it? Why not get your body back?" Ed said, his voice fringed with anger.

She just shook her head. "I deserve this. It's my punishment for being so aregant and fooling myself into thinking that I, a mere child, could have pulled off something that much more expirianced adults have tried and failed at, with both alchemy and alkehestry."

He glared at her. "And what's that to say about us?! We were just little kids too! We thought we could do it, even though it's never been possible before. We were aragant and foolish. But…. But that's not stopping us!"

She was quiet as she looked at him. Sighing, she just looked away.

Growling slightly, Ed turned to the door. "I'll get Al's body back. And before I get mine, I'll get your's… No one should live like that…."

And then he opened the door and slammed it, making Al wince. When he looked over to Amber, she did not seem to have been phased by the load slam. But then he looked closer, and he saw tears, which- as much as she tried to hold them back- cascaded down her cheeks.

Feeling she might want to be left alone, Al got up quietly and turned to the door, quietly opening and closing it.

For once, Al wasn't sure if he could berate his brother or not. After all, how could he yell at his brother for saying he'd get Amber's body back? Sure, the tone had be a bit harsh, but that was Ed. It was one way to know he meant business.

Giving a huffy sigh, Al followed his brother at a distance, so he could give the pivish boy some space, but also make sure he did not cause trouble in his mood.

Amber sat in the bed. She sighed.

Why would he want to do that? It was her punishment for being so foolish. She believed she deserved it.

But they had done the same thing. Practically the same thing, really. If not for the fact that it was Alkahestry she was using, compared to their alchemy, it was practically the same situation. They'd both lost their mothers, and were both very young.

She grit her teeth in frustration. For her to say that she deserved what she got would be to say they deserved it as well. Somehow, she didn't want to think of it like that, like they didn't deserve what they got. That they didn't deserve to be punished.

"Damn it… the runts got my morals all mixed up now…."

Ed grumbled as he walked out onto the roof. He heard the clinking of Al behind him as he walked to the edge of the roof, overlooking the town.

Not looking at his younger brother, he said, "Why would she say such a thing?"

"Maybe it's just the way she thinks…" Al supplied.

"But, Al. Don't you see. She's practically say we shouldn't even be trying to get our bodies back." Ed said, finally looked at his brother, fire in his eyes. "We did deserve what we got. We know that. But that doesn't mean that we can't get our bodies back. We learned what we did was wrong, and even as we look for a way to get our bodies back, we're suffering for it."

Al nodded, to show he understood his brother's reasoning.

Ed shook his head, fuming.

Al decided to change the subject. "So, do you really think she could be the Coronal's daughter?"

Ed turned, leaning against the railing on the roof, look off to the side. "Yeah. In fact, I'm almost certain. She looks too much like him not to be. Plus, it sounds like him to have gotten someone pregnant and not realized it, being such a womanizer." Ed shrugged, sighing.

"So when will we head that way? To Central?"

"I guess when Amber's ready to go."

"How long do you think that should take?"

"Oh, I don't know. The doc. said she had a problem with her heart- something about the heat in the desert and blah blah…. I guess whenever she feels up to it."

In fact, she was already bustling around her hospital room, getting dressed and making sure she had all her supplies, as merger as it was.

Casting out her senses, she was able to detect the odd presence of Alphones- Xing Alkahestry was very useful, but just being part Xing gave her the ability to sense beings.

Walking up to the roof, she opened it. The two looked over at the sound of the door opening.

"Amber! You're up!" Al said.

Amber rolled her eyes and scoffed. "No, I'm just a figment of your imagination."

"Well, I mean…. After all, you are injured and all…?" Al tried to amend himself.

Amber shrugged. "It's no big deal. Just the automail part of my heart acting up. It's pretty much fixed. Let's go."

The two brothers started at her blankly.

"Don't you think you should at least have one day of rest…?" Ed asked.

Amber shook her head. "I'm fine. It's only hurting a little, but then it always hurts a little."

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm completely and utterly sure. Don't you think I'd know my limits?" she interrupted Al, eyeing the two brothers with a raised eyebrow.

"But what if the heat did more…?" Ed tried, remembering how hot his metal limbs had heated up. She had three metal limbs plus a metal heart- a quarter at least.

"Look, if you don't want to go, then fine, I'll go by myself. Just know that it'd probably be safer for me to travel with someone that knew my condition, just in case something bad happened."

She had them there. They opened their mouths- or at least Ed did, while Al started forward- to say something, but then gave in, realizing it was useless. They had a feeling the girl would do what she pleased, whatever they did. They couldn't really blame her, really. They did the same thing.

"Alright. You win." Ed said, sighing. Amber smiled and walked back out the door, not looking to see if they were following.

"You follow her Ed, I'll go grab our stuff at the hotel." Al said, and at Ed's nod, Al jumped down from the roof, and ran to the hotel.

Ed walked through the hospital lazily, and met Amber at the door.

Her amber eyes shown with brilliance in the setting sun, and her raven black hair framing her face, and falling down her back, even though it was in a high pony tail, shined like pure mica. Ed found himself staring at her in awe.

"There you are, runt." She said as she caught sight of him. He'd barely even caught the "runt" part as he looked at her. She noticed his staring and raised an eyebrow. "Got a problem, shorty?"

He realized what he was doing and shook himself, recovering enough to get mad over being called short.

She shrugged off all of the yelling, just smirking, eerily looking like Roy's smirk.

Finally, Al showed up and they headed off to the Train Station.

Amber was ecstatic to see the train, as she'd never been so close to one, and they were not that common in Xing, mostly used to transport goods, and if they transported people, it was normally nobles or just really rich people. She was neither.

When they got on the train, she did seem to sober up once she felt how hard the seating was. With one full automail leg- which ended at the pelvis- it could get very uncomfortable.

After the first few attempts to find a comfortable position to sit in, she gave up with a very realistic growl- the two almost expected her to be another dog/human chimera. She stood and did something weird with her hands, ending with a ringing clap. Placing her hands on the bench, amber colored alchemy sparks leapt around, and the seat of the bench caved in, and turned into fabric. The end result was a hammock, with a pillow attached to the part where her head would be. Though the bench's back was still there, it looked very comfortable.

She flopped down into it ceremonially, and let out a content sigh.

Ed and Al just watched the whole thing with amazement and bewilderment.

"You know they'll get onto you for that?" Al asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Amber lifted her arm slightly from her eyes, and peered at them with a smirk. "So I'll tell them to shove off, and I'll fix it when I'm off the train."

Ed had a feeling she'd do it too. "So, you can do alchemy without a cicle?"

"More or less." She said lazily, her arm covering her eyes again.

"I get the clapping thing- I do it too- but… what's with the… hand signals…?" Ed said, interested.

"Huh…" she sighed, and sat up, looked at them. "Okay, so you know what the clapping is for…?"

"To create a circle." Ed said, nodding.

She nodded back. "Yes. But this is only a circle. Nothing but one circle. You need symbols and other diagrams in the circle. Thus, the hand signals."

Ed's brow scrunched. "But… I can do it just fine without them. I just clap, and slap what I want transmuted." Al nodded, as that was what he did too- although, he didn't really slam his hands down on the object, more crossed them in an X over each other and that was that.

Amber nodded. "Yes, it can work that way too. But, it is more efficient to do the hand signals."

Ed's brow scrunched again. "But how is that? Don't you think it'd be quicker to just clap and slap?"

"Maybe in some cases. But the thing is, you have to think harder, imagining the circle and it's symbols. If you do that, it can leave you a bit more drained, as it's taking your mind's power to make sure the job is done. You do the symbols, you don't have to worry about that. Now, if it's a tight situation, and you don't have time for the symbols, then you can.

"But once you get used to them, you can do it pretty fast."

Ed's bottom lip pursed as he tried to repeat what he could of the hand signals. He went slow at first, and then his gloves ended up getting tied up as he had tried to go as fast as he could.

"Doesn't look like it could get faster than the first one I did."

Amber smirked. Her hand flashed around, and all you could see was a blur- if you managed to catch it, that is. It almost looked like her hand had disappeared.

After only two seconds, she clapped her hands and a tongue of flame, the color of her eyes, flared up and a spirt of flame went up, and disappeared a second later.

"See. It just takes practice." She said, smirking at them.

The two golked at her in amazement. Then a question came to Ed. "How did you do that? Create that flame? The Corneal has gloves to produce a flare, and he controls it from there. How did you? You're not wearing gloves. What, is there flint and steel in your automail?"

Amber chuckled. "Actually, you are a bit close. I used to have flint an steel at the tips of my automail fingers. But then I found out that I didn't need them."

"Wha….?"

Sighing as if it were obvious, she said, "The alchemy sparks. I use that, and turn it into flame."

Ed blinked at that, and immeadeutly started to think of the logistics of it. It actually made sense, and he could see how she might make it.

"Hummm…." Was all he said, as he pondered it. After that, they settled down. Amber actually fell asleep in the next minute.

When the ticket man came to get their tickets, the man had looked at the ruined seat that Amber was lounging in quite contently, still sleeping.

He already needed to get her awake so he could have her ticket, so he decided he'd tell her to put the seat back to the way it was.

It was a big mistake.

Amber resembled something close to a crazed bull that could breathe fire if woken to unpleasantries. To say the least, the man would have nightmares about the devil being female, with eyes that were black where they should be white, and had ember centers, which started him down with glee as she tortured him.

And they thought Ed was bad.

Once it was all settled, the two Elric brothers were sure to keep from waking her until they were to get off the train.


	3. Chap 3: Daughter Meets Father

**Chap. 3: Daughter Meets Father**

Ed grumbled as he made his way down the street, Amber and Al next to him. Al was trying to consul his brother, while Amber just smiled and looked forward, hands clasped behind her neck.

"Brother, she didn't mean it-"

"Yeah right she didn't mean it! Look at her, Al! She's freaken _smiling_!" Ed interrupted Al.

"Ahahaha!" Amber laughed out, enjoying this. "Actually, I didn't mean it. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it." She said, running ahead just a bit and turning around to walk backward, smiling at the too.

"You're an evil bitch!" Ed yelled.

"Brother!-"

"And you're a shorty. Are you sure you're the older brother?" she said, looking at him skeptically. Al floundered, and managed to grab Ed before he could kill her- it seemed like it was just natural instinct now to grab the teen.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THEY COULD BE A CHILD'S DOLL?!" Ed yelled , running in place, rage on his face.

Amber just smiled. "You. And might I say, you'd make a lovely doll. All those golden locks, and pretty gold eyes…"

"AHHH! AL LET ME GO! I'M GONNA KILL HER!"

"Brother… that's why I'm holding you!"

Amber laughed and turned back around, walking on.

Finally, Ed got worn out and Al was able to let him go. He went back to grumbling about how evil the girl was.

They'd decided to go to a restaurant first, before they made their report to Mustang- as well as introduce Amber.

Once again, Amber got a huge meal. They had thought it was the fact that she'd been in the desert and on small rations that she'd eaten so much back at the desert border town. Now they saw that was just how she was.

It made Ed frown slightly.

"What's wrong brother?" Al said, noting that his brother was not eating as well as he usually did.

"It's nothing… well… maybe."

"What?" Amber said through a mouthful of chicken.

"Well, it's just that… Al and I theorized that while we were at the Gate, our souls had… kinda bonded together. It's kind of why we think I eat so much and… am… s… sm…"

"Short?" Amber supplied with a grin.

Ed's jaw clinched, as well as his fist as he reined in his anger- only possible because he'd been about to admit it, though her grin didn't help matters.

"Yeah… that… Anyway… I also sleep a lot. But… I'm starting to rethink that. After what I've seen in you… Well…"

Amber got a thoughtful look. "No. I think you might still be right on that- or that it's at least still a possibility. I only eat and sleep a lot because… well… I've actually always done that. It's increased a lot since I got my automail. With all the work it takes to lug around so many pounds of metal… Two legs, an arm and part of the heart. It's a lot, and it can make you weak if you don't keep in shape. Just walking used to get me. So, I had to train, and do all sorts of things. That and just having to carry all of it around, equals a lot of sleep and a lot of eating."

Ed and Al sighed in relief. If it had turned out that they weren't bonded, then they'd have been forced back a huge step to getting their bodies back- namely Al's.

They walked up to the gates of Central Command.

"Well… here we are." Ed said.

"Yup…" Al said.

Amber was silent. She didn't know what to say. She could- most likely- be meeting her father, for the first time.

After just standing there at the gates, she finally gulped and said, "Let's go…."

Looking at her from the corner of his eye, Ed nodded.

He nodded to the Gate men and they opened the gate- although they kept looking at the girl, who they swore looked familiar, although they were sure they had never seen a black haired, ember eyed girl.

They walked in, and no one said anything until they got to the Cornels office door.

"Well… here we are." Ed said.

"Yup…" Al said.

It was a repeat of the gates. Down to the part of Amber being silent, and why. Only difference was, the tension was much bigger.

Mustang is on the other side of this door. Her father- most likely- was on the other side of this three inch thick, mahogany door. Twenty feet away from it, behind his big desk.

She gulped. "Let's go."

Ed nodded, and raised his hand to knock.

But he was interrupted.

"Hey Al. Hey Ed." Said a female voice behind him.

As she was down the hall, and Al's body was blocking the say, Ed and Amber had to step out behind him.

"Oh, Halkeye. How's it goin'?"

"Not bad. You guys just get here?" she replied, and then she noticed the third member, and found slightly, as she looked familiar. It seemed to be a common thought running through the people at Central Command "And who's your friend?" she said with a smile.

"This is Amber Ameira. She's here from Xing, and wants to be a State Alchemist." Ed said, though did not mention the father bit. "And, yeah… we just got here."

Halkeye nodded and opened the door. "I take it your reporting in?"

"Yeah, though there really isn't much to report. Aside from a small robbery that we stopped-"

They walked in as they were talking and stopped talking when they heard a snore.

Halkeye's eyes narrowed, as she saw that there was a wall of papers on three sides of Mustangs desk. There was no one else in the office.

She took out her gun and shot at the wall behind the desk.

Immeadeutly, Roy rose, pushing papers down as he reached his hand out, ready to snap. After a second, his blurry eyes made out the forms of Halkeye, the Elric brothers, and some other girl.

Yawning, he sat back down, looking much like a lazy cat. "Oh, it's just you- OOF!"

Having had his eyes closed while yawning, he'd not seen the new girl run up and behind him. She'd just hammer fisted him on his head.

Gritting his teeth, he got up to attack back, but she was already half way across the room again.

Even though he was thinking, "How did she move so fast?" he was also thinking, "Even Halkeye didn't seem to notice until the actual attack was over… No matter, I have my alchemy."

Snapping his fingers, he sent a torrent of flame at her, and he heard a clap, looking over to Ed, though the boy was just staring, as well as Al. He looked back and blinked at the fact that there was a fair distance from the flame to the girl, stopping as if there was a barrier.

He let the flame go, and eyed her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Amber Ameira." She said, looking at him blankly, and had something like rage in her eyes.

"Why did you attack me?"

"Because your ass deserved it, you womanizing pervert!" she yelled back.

"Well you're way too young! I know I can be bad, but god! Don't accuse me of being a pedophile! I'm not even like that when I get drunk!" he could see that Ed was about to burst with laughter.

"You really are a blibering idiot, you know that." She said without emotion. Then sighed in derision, continuing. "Of course I'm too young. No. What you did, was go after my mother."

He blinked. "So, what? Is she or your dad mad at me? Did they send you? I'd have expected an angry husband over an angry daughter, if not both."

She had a look like she wanted to face palm. Instead, she gave a tight grin. "No. Actually, I've never _met_ my father." There was something in her eyes that told him he should analyze this statement very carefully.

He found himself studying her.

"Oh god…." He thought, and only realized a second later that he'd said it out load, as she gave the tight grin again.

"Ah… um…. Humm…" he didn't know what to say. He never felt so caught off guard.

"Yes, I'm told I look a great deal like him." She said. He saw Halkeye do a double take on the girl, as she realized what they were getting at.

"So… I'm…"

"Yes. You're my father. At least biologically. Mentally, I'd have to get to know you and see if I even _like_ you."

He blinked. Now that it had been said, it was like it was more official. He slumped back into his chair, his head in his hands. He had a deep feeling of regret. He never imagined that he'd ever do something like this. He liked women, yes, but he'd only ever gotten in bed with a few, and he could have sworn that he'd been protected!

"I… suppose… an apology isn't anywhere near what I should be giving you." He said, looking up at her with all the guilt he could not hold back.

She looked at him skeptically, reading him. "I'll have a few questions to ask before I would consider it." She said stiffly.

He nodded. "And I'll answer them. To the best of my abilities." He said, a determined look in his eyes. He looked at Reza and the Elric's.

Without needing to be asked, Reza turned and herded the boys out, giving one backward glance at Roy. "Don't get yourself killed, okay?" the look said.

He nodded at her and she closed the doors, leaving the two alone.

He looked at her, and gestured to the couch on the right side of the office- from his vantage point at least.

She walked over and sat down, as he walked over and sat on the couch on the other side of the coffee table.

"So, what is it you're wanting to know." He said.

"First off. Do you remember my mother? What she looks like, and maybe her name?"

He thought about it. It was hard to tell, given the fact that the girl looked like him, but for the eyes. Then he realized that she most likely had her mother's eyes. And there were not very many women he'd seen with that color. Only one, in fact.

After making sure he was not mistaken, he nodded, sure he had it right, even the name. After all, he remembered her most for- not just the eyes- but her personality. He remembered it quite well, actually. For it was the odd way she acted that drew him to her.

_~Flashback~_

_He was sitting in a bar, drinking himself silly in his depressed state. She was on the other side of the bar, talking to some other women. She saw him, slumped, grubby, baggy eyed, with quite a bit of stubble on his chin, cheeks, and upper lip._

_She got right up and walked over. He thought she was going to play with him. But she didn't. She slapped him. Flat out slapped. No warning, and seemingly no reason. He was too stunned to retaliate._

"_If you're going to feel sorry for yourself, don't do it at a bar, or, for that matter, don't do it with alcohol at all. It just makes it worse, and you're an idiot for thinking otherwise." She said. And then just walked back to her friend._

_The next day, he saw her walking out on the street, and went to talk to her. _

_When she saw him, she'd smiled. What she said was something else entirely. "Need another slap?"_

"_Quite a few actually." He said back with a chuckle._

_After that, they'd talked. For a week, they were together, but he found that she was only visiting. She was from Xing, and she'd actually overstayed._

_~End flashback~_

The rest was pretty obvious.

He looked to Amber now and nodded again. "Yes. I remember her. Brownish red hair- it actually looked like a deep shade of red in the sun. Ember eyes, creamy skin. Tall and slim. She was always acting odd, doing what people least expected. Akeira always was like that, from what I could tell. I swear I could never get a good grip of her personality."

He'd been looking off in thought, and looked to Amber now, and saw the slight glisten of tears.

She blinked and they were gone.

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay. So, you remember her. That's two points…. Now… do you feel guilt? Now that you know about me?"

He didn't even have to think about this one, but he didn't rush to say it, nor did he pause too long.

"Yes… immensely. Had I known, I'd have done something…" he then looked up, a slightly puzzled look on his face. "But why didn't she send me anything? I only got one letter from her after she left, and it was to tell me that she'd made it to Xing fine- as I'd insisted she tell me. She made no mention about you. Even if she didn't know about you after she arrived, she'd have found out sooner. Why didn't she send anything…?"

Amber nodded, looking a bit sad. "That's one more point to you. You express concern even after it's already been done." She sighed, and said, "She didn't send news of me, because she did not want to burden you with anything. That splits into many reasons, but the big one was her family. They resented me, as I'm not pure to them. I'm a bastard child, as well as a half blood. They also thought of my mother as a disgrace, as she'd slept with man, and got pregnant. She didn't want to put the same kind of treatment on you. Her family may not have been important, but they were an old family, and stuck much to the old ways."

"She couldn't even get a letter out?" Roy asked, frowning more.

"No… If they saw her writing a letter to you, they'd rip it right up. After a while, she just gave up. In the end she'd convinced herself that it was for the best anyway, as I'd said before."

There was a silence, as they both collected themselves. Amber then broke it, saying her next question. "So what would you have done? If you'd know, what would you have done for her?"

This time the answer was immediate. "I'd have tried to get her into the country- if she wanted. If not, then I'd have sent money- of course, I'd make sure it were switched to your currency."

Amber smiled. "Two more points. That puts you at five points." She thought for a second, and then asked, "What would you do now that you know me?"

He raised an eyebrow, feeling it'd be obvious. "I'd provide for you anything you'd need, of course. I may not have been there- and though it was her good reasoning, I did not know of you. But that does not make me want to continue not being there for you."

"Good. You pass. I accept your apology." She said, smirking slightly.

He smirked back, and reached out a hand. "Glad to hear it kid." He said.

She took it, and shook. He frowned slightly at the oddly strong grip, as there was something about it that seemed familiar. He shrugged it off. Perhaps it was just the fact that she was so much like him, that somehow, his handshakes must feel like that, although he wouldn't know- who would shake their own hand?

Sitting back down, they sighed. He then asked, a slight glint in his eye, "So, is your mother here as well? I'd very much like to aplo- What?"

He'd been looking around, but had seen the way the girl had paled and tensed. Now that he was looking right at her, he saw tears.

"She… She's…-"

"Dead." Amber said, her voice cracking.

"…How…?"

"A High Lord killed her, while he was drunk."

He gaped at her. She wasn't holding back the tears now, and had her hands clutching her head, trying to wipe them away.

He couldn't help himself. He got up and walked around the coffee table, sitting next to her, and hugged her around the shoulders. Again, he felt something odd about the feel of her arm, familiar, but was too preoccupied to actually give it any thought.

They just sat there for a bit, her crying, him hugging her- much to his surprise, as he had never done this sort of thing before.

Finally, she managed to get a hold of herself, and pulled away.

"I'm okay now… sorry…" she said, feeling slightly ashamed of herself, for showing that much weakness.

Feeling slightly awkward, Roy let go of her and sat back. Silence followed this for a few minutes before Amber broke it.

Sighing, Amber said, "Well… I think Ed and Al wanted to make their report."

"Ah… right." He said, getting up.

"I'll get them." Amber said, as she got up as well, and made her way to the door.

She paused just a foot away from the door, and her eyes narrowed slightly. Reaching her hand out, she opened the door and Ed fell forward from having his ear on it.

"Ah…. Hi… Am…ber…." Ed said, looking up at her sheepishly.

She didn't say anything, but Ed knew what she was going to do. The big hint was the fist coming down on his head.

"Ah! Brother!" Al said coming in. He got punched too, though he wasn't knocked out. "S…sorry Amber…" he said, trying to remember what was legs and what was arms.

"I guess Al will have to give the report…" Mustang muttered, smirking down at Ed as a bit of spit driveled down from the corner of his mouth.

AL- finally sure that his arms were at the top half of his body and his legs were under him- pushed himself up and nodded. "Well, sir. There really isn't much to tell. It was just a dead end, and we didn't even learn anything. All that really happened was us stopping a robbery and meeting Amber."

Roy nodded. "Humm…"

Ed had finally come to while Al was talking and rubbing his head and glaring at Amber for a second, he looked to the Corneal. "So, any news from here…?"

Roy's eyes narrowed, and he looked very grim. "Humph… They haven't called me in for a while now. That was actually the first time I saw Reza in three weeks…"

"Oh yeah," Ed said, stretching out on the couch, next to Amber, lazily. "She said she was sorry, and that she had to go. Also, she said she hoped you didn't get yourself killed…"

"Sounds like her…" he said, smirking slightly.

Amber had been silent, having wondered what they were talking about. She decided to forget about it, as the moment for questioning had passed. She did, however, want to talk about a certain something.

Clearing her throat to get their attention, she nodded when she did. "I'd just like to talk about the matter of getting me into the Military, as a State Alchemist of course."

Mustang blinked in surprise. "You want to be in the military? Why…?"

Amber looked at him calmly. "Because I have no means of making a living back in Xing, and I'd like to get a good pay if I can. "

Ed and Al looked at her slightly, noticing she didn't tell him about her medical issues. But they made no move to say anything about it.

"Humm… You're a bit young aren't you…?" Mustang mused, looking at her skeptically.

Amber scoffed. "Really? That's your best? Ed and Al are younger than me!"

"Yes, well, they have a reason for being here. They need- not only the money to support themselves- but they need access to military records. It's all so they can get their bodies back. You only need the money. I can give that to you until you find another job. Or until you're old enough to go into the military."

Amber was already shaking her head. "No. I want the military. I've spent too much time thinking about it to have it thrown aside. I came all this way from Xing, _knowing_ that I'd get the job." Her gaze was set hard as she looked at Mustang, unwavering. "You're not going to throw those chances away for me. You can support me while I go through the proses, but I am going to go through with it. If you think I can't handle it, then you're wrong." She took a deep breath, and continued. "Even if it should come to killing someone, I would. You'll find that I have a pretty damn hard heart."

Mustang blinked in astonishment. Somehow, he could tell she was not bluffing. He just didn't want to drag her into the troubles that he and his most trusted friends had found themselves in. Surly, being so closely related to him, she would get dragged in. And he didn't want her to get caught up in killing innocent people.

"And don't worry. If I had to kill someone, I'd make sure they deserve it. No matter what, the military can't take my free will away. They could kill me if they wanted, or they could cope with my decision."

Once again, he had the feeling that she wasn't bluffing, as well as a sense that she knew what he'd been thinking.

"What makes you so certain that this is what you want?" Mustang said, "What made you first want it?"

Amber nodded slowly. After a second, she said, "I met a women. She said she used to be in the army, but had to go to Xing because she was supposed to be dead-"

"Lt Ross?!" Ed and Al exclaimed, making Amber blink at them in surprise.

"Ah… yeah… I take it you know her?" she said tentatively.

"Yeah… She was actually assigned to watch over us for a while. She'd been accused of murdering… an important figure in the army, so we… or, well, Mustang and his guys staged her death. She had to travel to Xing to go into hiding."

Amber nodded. "Yes. That's her. She was very nice, and…" Amber ducked her head a bit, "Heh… She actually told me about you two, now that I think about it- I just hadn't expected you to be _this_ short-" she said smirking and Ed started ranting. Mustang smiled. Seems that's a trait they shared.

After Ed finally wore himself out, Amber continued. "It inspired me. So that's why. I already knew that my father was in the military, that he was the Flame Alchemist. But I'd actually heard that you were in another desert city, not Central."

Mustang nodded. "I was moved here just recently."

Amber nodded back, understanding.

"Small world…" Ed mused, thinking about how odd it was that Amber would run into Ross, Ross tell her about them, them finding her, and then bringing her here. He had a slightly suspicious feeling that Truth might have something to do with this.

He shook his head as he realized they were talking again.

"So. I'm going to take the exams, go through the tests, all that. And I'm going to get in." Amber said, very matter-of-factly.

Mustang sighed. It sounded like he could do nothing to change her mind. All he'd have to hope for is that she doesn't make it in. Amber, sensing his giving up, smiled brightly.

"Great! So, now all I have to do is find a place."

"Ed and I normally just stay here, or at a hotel…" Al said.

"Well, I'm not so sure I'd be able to stay here. Maybe at a hotel would do."

Picking up a pen and piece of paper and scribbling something on it, Mustang held it out. "Here's a check-" he then took his State Alchemist watch, "-and here's my watch so they know."

Amber nodded as she took the check and watch. She looked curiously at the watch. She looked over to Ed, noting the chain for his. She'd seen him pull it out every now and then.

"So, I'll get one of these when I become a State Alchemist?"

Mustang's head dipped in a slight nod. "Yes, if you are able to make it, then you will get one."

"When. When I make it." She said, correcting him. He held his hands up in surrender.

"Just know this. Only one can make it through." Amber looked at him curiously, unsure what that meant. Mustang made to continue, but it was Ed who explained.

"Out of all the people entering to become State Alchemist, only one will pull through. There could be fifty, or there could be three hundred. And out of all of them, only one person can become a State Alchemist."

Amber blinked at them in surprise. "Are you serious? That's totally unfair! Those people work hard. And all they get for their work is a bunt to the shadows by one person?! Where is the Equivalent Exchange?"

"It's the way things are. They want the best, and only the best." Ed said, shrugging.

"Well… is there, like… a big fight?" Amber said hopefully.

Mustang's brow frowned in confusion. "What…?"

"A fight! A challenge of one on one! Something to where if they have to get bunted, they could at least keep their pride. Being pushed to the side as if you were dirt…? No. But if you had to fight, then at least you can go out knowing for real that that person really was better then you."

Mustang nodded, thinking it over. It wasn't a half bad idea. The only problem he could see where the possibility of death. There were some alchemist that could enjoy such things all too much. Kimbly, for example. And then there were people that just didn't have it in them to fight.

He pointed this fact out to Amber. It made her think for a few seconds, then a glint showed in her eyes.

"Then you can pair them into different categories." She said, and they looked at her quizzically. "Okay, say you had two or more alchemist that work with water. Have them compete to show who has better control over it. Same for rock, plant, fire, air, and metal, and any other category you can think of."

Again, Mustang found he was liking the idea. Then, he found another flaw. "What happens when you have all the end results of each category? You'd end up with at least a half a dozen, maybe a bit over that."

"Well, then you'd decide which one would be most suited for the job. If they're not cut out for it, then they don't get it. Meaning, if they are too squeamish about the hard life, or if they enjoy it too much. The ones that will do what they can to help for the good… Or whatever you people do to decide."

They all looked at her in silence, pondering it, and wondering how she could have come up with all of that in this short amount of time, whereas all the top guys hadn't even thought of it once- or at least didn't mention it, for some odd reason.

"Hummm…. It might pose as a means of entertainment as well." Mustang said, his hands laced together in thought, eyes narrowed. Finally, he looked up at Amber and smirked. "Alright. I will see about it, ask the counsel what they think. It'd be a pleasant change."

'Plus, there could be a placing of bets….' He thought silently to himself with an inward smirk.

"Great! So, I'll be off then." Amber said, and turned without another word.

Ed shrugged and followed after her. Al rushed after them, though he turned back slightly to bow in respect to Mustang.


	4. Chap 4: Black Hole

**Chap. 4: Black Hole**

They got to the hotel, Ed and Al leading the way. Once they got a room for Amber- just down the hall from the two brothers- they decided to hang around in her room.

Lounging on the couch, Ed looked over to the girl, a look of confused concern in his eyes.

"So… does he not know?" he asked.

Amber looked up from inspecting her automail arm. It was an odd style. Efficient, but held a certain Xing look to it.

"Hum…?" she said in question, a lazy eyebrow raised.

"You're automail. Does Mustang know?" he asked. Al was looking at Amber now too, having been curious himself, but unable to ask.

"No. He doesn't." she said, shrugging as if it was of no importance to her. Going back to her automail, she continued. "He knows of my mother's death, but I didn't tell him everything." Once again, she looked up at both of them, with a look amazingly cold for such warm colored eyes. "And you'd do well to do the same."

Ed nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable under her cold, yet firey gaze. But finally, she looked back down, and unscrewed the arm plate so she could get a look inside. Ed was curious to find that it had way more wiring than he had in his. There were barely any gaps between the multicolored wires.

"That's a lot of wires…" he found himself muttering, as he leaned over to look closer.

She looked up slightly, and nodded. "Yeah, and it's a pain in the ass to clean…" she said. She rummaged in her bag and took out something that looked like a very big pipe cleaner, only it was at a 90* angle and only one part was fuzzy, while the other was something of a handle. It had what looked like a button- only the size of a fly. She pushed the fuzzy part through one of the gaps, and once it was in, she pushed the button.

There was a sound, something making a "ZZZZZZ" as she kept her finger on the button. After five minutes, she took it out, and the brothers were just able to see the fuzzy end spinning before she let go of the button and it stopped. She then took a small container out. It looked like a tiny tank, with a small twist valve coming of the top, a tube nozzle next to it. The tip of the tube tapered down to a small opening.

She twisted the nozzle and a hissing noise came from the tube. She aimed it down at the wires and immeadeutly, a cloud of dust and sand flew out. She had leaned away, so she would not be in the line on fire, but Ed was not so lucky. She pushed it a bit into the wires and moved it around a bit, and after a while, the dust and sand stopped flying.

Sitting back, and cutting off the air with the nozzle, she sighed. "And that's about as clean as I can get them…." She said, replacing the arm plate.

She looked around and saw that she'd made a bit of a mess. The dust still hung in the air, but the sand lay on the couch, floor, and coffee table.

"Aw, damn…" she muttered. "Oh, well… I'm sure room serves can clean it…." She took a piece of paper and pen and scribbled out an apology letter to whoever would clean the room.

She then moved out to the small balcony, her cleaning tools with her.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked, getting up and following.

"Well, I think it'd make a lot less of a mess if I did this outside, wouldn't you think?" she replied, sitting down on a small bench. Ed nodded.

"So are you ever going to get new automail? You know, to make it easier?" Al asked.

"Yeah. I actually have to." She said, taking off the leg plate. "You see, my automail mechanic is too old now, and can barely see, much less remember how to do the automail. I was fortunate enough to not need her to fix my heart last time. Else, I think it'd have been even worse. But the thing is in need of repairs…" the whole time she was talking, she was cleaning her leg automail. Finally finished, she put the plates back on and sat back to relax. "So, yeah… got to find a new mechanic…"

Ed and Al looked at each other. Then Ed looked back at her. "We have a great one, if you want to give her a try."

She looked up at them, nodding slightly. "I might… May I see yours so I can see how she is?"

Ed nodded and took his black coat off- his red one was hanging inside. He held the arm out to her, and she pulled him over to the seat next to her. He blushed slightly as she inspected the arm- the whole thing, up to the shoulder port. She took the arm plate off and looked with surprise at the inside, seeing much less wires.

"It looks really good… And it feels light… What's her name?"

"Winry… Though, Granny does the work sometimes… she'd probably be the one to go to if you needed work on your heart. I'm not sure if Winry would have the nerve to try something so important."

Amber nodded, and replaced the arm plate and let him have is arm back. "It looks very efficient. I'd like to give her a try."

"Well, I'm due soon for new automail, so before she comes up here to do that, I could call and get her to make some for you. When do you think you'd need work on your… heart…?" Ed asked, feeling awkward with the question.

"Maybe in a month. Possibly a bit less…" she said. "When would you friend be getting here?"

"In about a week, maybe week and a half if she has to do more automail."

"Okay…. Why don't you go ahead and call her up?"

Ed nodded, and went through the hotel room, Amber and Al following him.

As Ed was calling her, Amber started to talk to Al.

"So what's this Winry like anyway? I'd like to know something more about her. I don't like people I don't know."

Al chuckled a bit, thinking it was such an odd thing. "Well, she's very nice. And determined…. And she beats Ed on the head a lot when she's mad at him- with a wrench. Sometimes I get it too…. Humm… I'd say that aside from your looks, you two are a lot alike. Actually, you're like a combination of Ed and her."

Amber nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "I'll give her a chance I guess… I'd like to be able to get along with my mechanic…."

"Hey, Amber… Come and tell Winry your measurements…" Ed said, holding the phone out to her. Amber walked over and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" came a voice from the other end. It sounded warm, and ringed with a definite female righteousness. Amber felt herself already warming up to the other girl.

"Hey, it's Amber. You need my measures?"

"Yes, if you can, I'd like to know them exactly. Also, I'd like to know if you'd prefer a certain weight."

Amber nodded to herself. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about. She listed off all her measurements, down to how long each toe/finger was.

"Alright. Thank you very much! I'll have it done in three days." Winry said, and Amber could hear the smile in the voice. "Humm… I can't wait. Such a big order… this is going to be better than fixing a crappy army vehicle!"

Amber raised an eyebrow in amusement. She then said good bye, and hung up, so the girl could get to work.

Sighing, she turned back to the other two and stretched yawning. "Well, I'd better get to bed…"

Ed nodded, "Night…"

As she walked by, Ed had a uncertain feeling go through him. The last time she'd gone off on her own, she'd ended up having to go to the hospital. But he could hardly ask her if he could stay with her.

He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that she'd be fine. Maybe….

Shaking his head, he turned and, with Al, went to their room.

The next day found the three walking around Central, showing Amber what all she'd not seen yet. As they walked, Ed noted that she seemed to be just a bit on edge.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her.

She blinked, coming back from whatever world she'd been in. "Hum?"

"You look edgy. What's wrong?" Ed repeated.

"Oh… I don't know… Something just doesn't…. feel right." She said, her brow frowning.

"'Something'? Like what?" Al asked.

"Are you feeling pain? Is it your heart?" Ed said, stopping, a look of worry in his eyes.

Amber laughed slightly at their overreaction. "No, no. _I'm_ fine… It's just… there's something not right about this place…"

"Oooh… So we have another Xing aside from that bothersome little girl." Called a man behind them. They turned and Amber gasped slightly at the being before her. He had long black hair, pulled back in a ponytail. Slitted eyes, and a devilish smirk. His cloths were black slacks, with a black, unbuttoned suit coat, with a white dress shirt under it. His shoes were black leather.

He looked Xing. But he didn't feel like it… and yet, he did. A bit. But for the most part, he felt like a black hole.

"Ling!" Ed said, stepping forward.

"Sorry, kid. Still Greed." He replied, though he was looking at Amber. "Well aren't you quite the beauty…" he said, smirking again. "You wanna hook up?"

"Why the hell would I hook up with something like you?" Amber said, her eyes narrow.

Greed stepped back, his hand over his heart and a mock hurt expression on his face. "So _mean_…!" he then "recovered" himself, and said, "Hummm… Well, why you'd want to hook up with me? Well… Heh… Not to brag or anything, but I am a Prince. Possibly next-OOF!"

Greed found himself flying in the air, and landing ten feet away. His cheek started to hurt, but stopped after a second. Looking up, he was about to ask what the hell that was for, when she shouted:

"I hate Lords, and Princes and any other royalty. More so than anyone else. So you'd do well to stay away from me if you think you can seduce me with that bull crap!"

Ed and Al were wincing at the blow she'd given him. That had to have hurt, coming from her automail arm.

Poor Ling. He wasn't all that bad. He took your hospitality for granted sure, but he was loyal to friends when it came to protecting them. The brothers wondered if the Xing man trapped in his own mind could feel the pain of it.

"Humph… No wonder I've been edgy. The energy this guy has… Damn. It's like a black hole." She looked to Greed, as he was walking back up to them, though stay clear of her. "What are you? I know you're not human."

"I'm _Greed_, sweet cheeks."

Her eye's narrowed in annoyance, but then something caught her eye. Looking down at his hand, she saw half of a tattoo. From what she could see, it looked like a snake biting its own tail. Or, she assumed it was the end of its tail, as the rest of the picture came into her mind. And indeed, it also had the two small wings above the head and tail.

So, if the Oriborus wasn't an indication, then the fact that he was calling himself "Greed" and his being felt like a black hole, told her what he was.

"Homunculus." She said, looked at him.

He smiled savagely. "Got that right, babe! Pretty cool, huh?"

"No. It's just sad." She said, with no emotion.

He looked at her oddly. "Huh? How the hell is it 'sad'? I get to live for all of an eternity! I can have all I want!"

She shook her head, as if she were dealing with a helpless creature that was struggling to live. Sighing, she just turned without a word and walked down the street. Al, looking uncertain, followed her. Ed stayed and looked at Greed.

"So is there any other reason you were following us?" he asked, his voice sounding annoyed.

Greed frowned at him. "Geez… Everyone's so mean. Huh…. No. I was just curious why you were hanging around with another Xing. Or, more correctly, Ling wants to know what another Xing is doing here."

"Ling? You mean he really is still in there?!" Ed asked.

"Ah, great. This again… Huh… Yes. Ling is still there. Though he's not strong enough to take over, unless I let him." He smiled at that.

"He'll find a way… Ling just doesn't give up like that."

"Whatever. Later." And Greed left, going down an ally.

Ed hurried to catch up to the other two. They'd stopped at a sidewalk bench. Amber was sitting, breathing a bit hard, and Al was standing, looking very worried.

When Ed saw this, his face set in a hard and worried frown. He picked up his pace, and finally got to them.

"What's wrong?" he said immediately, looking between the two.

"Huh… it's _nothing_." Amber said, sounding a bit exasperated.

Ed looked to Al for confirmation.

"She says she's fine." Al said uncertainly. "Just really worn out and needed a break..."

"Huh… don't worry. I've still got up to a month for my heart automail to shut down. It's just the presence of that thing took a lot of energy. Kinda made me feel sick. Like I said, he feels like black hole."

Ed nodded, and looked around. "Why don't we find a cooler place to rest?"

Amber nodded, and pushed herself off the bench. It had been getting a bit hot. They found the perfect place to cool off. A nice library. They didn't have very good historical books, but they had some nice little stories. Amber was surprised to find some of them sounding much like the stories from her country. After a while, they ended up having to leave, due to their constant laughing.

_**AN: And that's all she wrote! For now at least. I'ma go watch some anime for a bit and might start on the next chap. We'll see... Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think of this story! I've not done a non crossover in a while, and it kinda feels odd to me, but I want to make sure I do it right.**_


	5. Chap 5: The Window to Her Heart

**Chap. 5: The Window to her Heart**

"So you mean to tell me you've never had ice cream…?" Ed asked the Xing girl.

The two had headed out to buy some things- Ed needed to buy some things that Winry had requested, and Amber decided to tag along. They were also going to be meeting up with Al and the devil mechanic in an hour, as Al was on his way to meet her hat the train station.

"I've had ice, and some creamy foods, but I've never had an iced over creamy food. Seems like that would taste really nasty." She thought of frozen over wasabi and shuddered.

"It's actually really good. Come on, I'll show you a great place to get some." Ed said as he stirred her down an alley that led to another street. Turning left, and walking down that street past a few shops, they came to a very delightful looking place. It had outside sitting, and a window to grab your order at.

Ed pulled her up to the window and took the lead. He ordered them both their own plain ice creams and picked out a table.

Amber looked at the mound of frosty, egg-white stuff and then up at Ed as he took a lick at it and smiled. She looked back down at the "ice cream" and repeated what he did. A burst of vanilla flavor hit her tongue and she blinked in surprise. It wasn't necessarily sweet, but it was; it was very subtal… And it was creamy too.

She decided she'd take a bite, and that was her mistake. First off, it hurt her front teeth, making them ach as they were immersed in the cold. Second, she had a sudden headache, though it was unlike any she'd felt before, like someone was impaling her eye with an ice cube.

"What the fuck!" she said as she cupped her forehead in her hand.

Ed laughed. "You're not supposed to eat it that quick!"

"What the hell is this?" she glared at him through one eye- the other was covered as that was where the pain was centered.

"That, Amber, is called a brain freeze. Kinda ironic, since you're all about flames and all." He chuckled.

"I'm so going to kill you…" she grumbled, but the pain had subsided, and she sat up again.

She looked at the ice cream again and was debating if she hated it or liked it. Shrugging, she took another lick- she liked it before, and now she knew what not to do, so why hate it?

After finishing about three more ice creams, Amber sat back with a content sigh.

"Ah, now that was good! Who'da thought that milk had such a nice use?" she said, smiling.

Ed chuckled. "Yeah, it's actually a pretty new thing. I was convinced that stew was the only thing I could take that had milk in it."

"I don't know… I've never really cared for stew…" she said.

"Well then you should try Granny Pinoko's. If you don't like her stew, then you won't like any."

"Hm…" was all Amber said, still leaning back, enjoying the full feeling in her stomach.

They sat there for a bit, Amber leaning back, eyes closed, her raven hair drifting in the wind. Ed noticed how creamy her skin looked too, almost like the ice cream actually. He imagined how soft it must be.

Then he blushed as he caught himself in what he was just thinking. At that moment, Amber decided to look up.

"Wow, what's up with your face? It's all red." Amber said, oddly not laughing, but not worried either.

Ed floundered, trying to come up with something and his eyes caught on a street clock. They were late to meet up with Al and Winry.

"Gah! Um… Ah… We're going to be late!" he said, and jumped out of his seat. Amber took her time getting out of her seat and shrugged.

"Oh, not like it's the end of the world. Chill out."

They hurried- or, rather, Ed hurried, but more to keep some distance from Amber, as he was still trying to block out his earlier thought, while Amber ambled along behind him, feeling a bit nap-ish after eating the three ice creams.

They met up at a hotel. Ed got the room number that Winry had checked in at and they walked up to the second floor, room 9.

After knocking, and hearing the okay, Ed and Amber walked in.

Amber looked over the girl, Winry. She was about as tall as Amber, had long blond hair a few shades lighter than Ed's golden locks. Slim, but had some muscle. Blue eyes that sparkled when happy and Amber could imagined they'd just spark when she was mad.

On the bed, there were three suit cases and a tool box.

"Ed, about time you got here!" Winry said, looking at him, the sparks flying. "How long do you think you can make your mechanic waiting? I hope you know that I'm charging you extra!"

"What?! That's not fair! We paid for your room, train ticket, and don't forget the automail! We don't owe you anything!"

BANG!

A wrench went flying and hit Ed perfectly at the center of his face, leaving a nice line to split it.

"What the hell?!" Ed yelled, after getting over the shock. He must get this a lot to get over it that quickly, Amber thought.

"I want dinner. I heard they opened up a new restaurant from the guy at the front desk. You guys buy me my dinner and I'll call it even."

"We are not going to do that!" Ed said, exasperated.

"Oh come one, its not like treating me to dinner is that bad. Surely you guys are going to get hungry at some point. Are you really going to make a lady pay for her own food?"

"Lady? Since when where you a la- OOF!" Ed was hit with another wrench.

"I'll buy you dinner Winry…" Al said, afraid of his brother sustaining anymore injuries.

Winry turned with sparkling eyes. "Oh, thank you Al!"

Ed grumbled as he rubbed his forehead. He happened to notice Amber looking at him, and saw that she was biting her lips in an effort to keep from laughing. 'Oddly enough, it looks kinda cute, even if it were directed at me…. AH! What am I think?!' he blushed and looked away.

Just then, Winry turned back around and was all business now.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" she said, looking from Ed to Amber.

"I'll go first. I'm kinda tired from walking around all day. Gonna go to bed early." Amber said, walking forward.

She sat on the bed and pulled off her jacket. She wore a black sleeveless shirt she'd snagged from Ed- all her other clothes from home were a bit dirty. Winry immeadeutly went insane as she grabbed the automail arm and brought it up for her inspection; Amber was, to say the least, surprised by this reaction.

"Wow! This is so nice looking… But it's so heavy… But its slim, and much more formed like the actual arm." She rambled on and on about things that Amber didn't even begin to understand. "Do you mind if I keep these to study on? I wanna try and replicate the style and maybe make it lighter."

"Ah… yeah, sure. I'll have no use for them, after all…" Amber said.

For the next two hours, they worked on giving Amber her new automail. It took a bit longer because Winry had refrained from completely doing the port connector, as she was not familiar with Amber's. So she had to do a bit of building on the spot before connecting.

Once they were connected, they called the boys back in- they'd had to leave because Amber had to strip for the full leg automail.

"Wow, looks great." Al said, as he took in Amber's look of relief- obviously, having automail that was lighter was already having a positive effect on her. But Ed was noticing more than just the relieved look on her face. Her whole body shown with relief. He noticed that she stood straighter, and that, while it hadn't been that huge a difference, her arms where now equal in length. Same as with her legs, as he'd noticed there was the ever so slight limp she had from having a slightly shorter leg than the other- sure, both legs had automail, but the upper part of her left leg still grew, so that would make things out of proportion if not taken care of.

Amber stretched, and sighed as she felt lighter than she'd ever felt in the three years since she'd gotten automail. "Man, this feels great!"

"Glad I could help." Winry said, smiling. She turned to Ed and smiled. "Well, Ed, it's your turn now."

"Ugh…" Ed grumbled, as he stepped up. He took a glance at Amber and regretted his grumble. After all, she'd had to have suffered that paint more than him, and she was still dealing with her heart. And she looked fine now. He had no right to complain.

It only took an hour for Ed, as there wouldn't be any need to build. Though Winry did have some bad news for him as they were finishing up.

"You're starting to outgrow your connector port." She told him, as she put away her tools, her voice serious. "If not replaced in the next year, or maybe even next few months, you could end up with some serious health issues."

Ed, feeling he knew what that meant, asked anyway. "And so…. what do I have to do…?"

"Go to Granny and have her do the operation. I'd say it would be best to do it when you are due to get new limbs- and that better not be because you wreaked these too soon!" this last part she turned with lasers in her eyes, holding the wrench she had been about to put away at him threateningly.

"Y-yeah, sure. You bet. Hell, if I can delay it, I _will_…" he muttered the last part.

Amber had fallen asleep on the couch. She was lying in a rather odd position. She was taking up only one cushion, her head more towards the middle while her legs was slung over the arm of the chair and dangling to the floor. Her left arm was thrown over her face to cover her eyes, while her right arm was buried into the back of the couch between the cushions.

He heard Al chuckle and looked over to his younger brother.

"What?"

"Ed, she sleeps just as weird as you!" Al said in a chuckling hiss. This got Winry to giggle to and Ed to redden.

"I do not sleep like that!" he his back.

"No, you normally have your hand under your shirt and resting on your stomach. Other than that…" Winry said.

"Humph… Well then maybe it's just because of the automail. I bet it changes the way we feel comfortable." Ed said in a huff.

"Well, you always slept like that though…." Al pointed out.

"Her automail though. It really is amazing… Its not that its perfect, but there is so much engineering in it… It's very intricate…" Winry said, and her face darkened slightly at the thought of a certain automail part.

Ed noticed this and could only guess what that could be. "So… did she tell you anything about her heart…?" he asked.

Winry nodded. "I never thought that such a thing were possible. It just looked so…."

"Looked…? You mean… you've seen it? But how?" Ed asked, and Al was wondering the same thing.

Winry looked at the two and motioned for them to follow her out the door. Once they were out in the hall and a few doors down, she nodded, answering Ed's question.

"Yeah, I saw it… It's… horrible… but amazing at the same time."

"But how did you see it…?" Al asked.

Winry shuddered. "She has a… I guess you'd have to call it a window… or maybe… it kinda looked similar to those windows on boats… Port windows…"

Ed's eyes widened in horror when he realized what she must mean by that. "You mean…. You can see… inside her…?" he said in a choked whisper.

Again, Winry nodded. "It's not like I could see any more than the heart though. It's in a kind of sphere… It keeps it from coming in contact with other organs and makes operating on it eaier. That's what she said anyway. Most of it is actual heart, but some of it, like the main arteries and some of the internal workings, are metal, and a lot of tubing. She also has some rib replacement, which are metal too." Winry shuddered again. "Ed, it's just horrible. I couldn't actually see much of it, because the lighting wasn't great. Most of what I just told you, she actually told me herself. For the most part, all I saw was the metal ribs and for a second, the heart."

It was more serious than Ed had thought. Amber only told them it was just the heart. She never told them about the rest- the dome, the ribs, the _window_.

"No wonder she's always wearing things that cover her up to the neck…" Ed had noticed that about the Xing girl. Like him, she dressed so that any skin that shown was the face and neck. She too wore gloves, black. She didn't wear very tight clothes, preferring things that were more drape like. He'd always understood the long sleeve, pants and gloves, but hadn't really thought about the up to the neck shirts. He'd always thought it might be because of the scares she might have after having to get her hart worked on so much. But all along it was to hide a window.

He didn't know what to think. He kept wanting to think, "Poor Amber" but something in his mind told him that she'd disapprove of such pity, so he never let the thought completely surface. What surfaced instead was: "She's a remarkable girl…"

"She is…" Winry said, making Ed realize he'd said it out load.

Just then, they heard a thump coming from the room. Ed and Al, fearing the worst, rushed to the room, while Winry, worried because they were worried, was quick to follow.

"Amber?!" Ed yelled as he opened the door.

What he found was a groggy Amber sitting up and looking around, a bit of drool running down her chin, and her hair a mess.

"Ugh…" she said, rubbing her head, where she must have landed on it when she fell off the bed. She noticed the looks that hey were giving her and chuckled. "Stand down, Soldier, I simply fell off the bed."

Ed relaxed, glad to find that her heart wasn't acting up again.

"So when you guy gonna get Winry and I dinner?" Amber asked, getting off the floor and rolling her shoulder to get the stiffness out.

"Wha?!" Ed exclaimed.

Amber didn't pay attention to him and walked out the door, grabbing Winry as she went.

"So, you know any good, expensive places to eat?" Amber said, smiling.

"Well, there is the new one that opened up. I hear its lowest priced food is at 15." Winry said smiling back as the two walked on.

"Perfect! Then let's go!"

"What the hell?!" Ed grumbled as he stomped out of the room, Al following timidly behind.

"It's okay brother. We've got plenty of money…"

"That doesn't mean we have to give it away!" Ed raged as he stomped after the girls, though he knew he would still end up paying anyway- they'd just put it on his tab.

So, he resigned himself to his fate and walked on, grumbling on about how girls were evil.

_**AN: Bewahahahaha! Another chapter up! Woot! And did I trick ya with the title about what would happen in the chapter…? :3 **_

_**Anyway, R&R. I need reviews! I only have one so far, and it makes me sad. I'm kinda liking this story and with no reviews, it's making me think it's not as good as I thought it was. **_


	6. Chap 6: Emergency

**Chap. 6: Emergency**

The next few weeks went by fairly uneventful. Ed and Al had to go out on another mission from Mustang, though it wasn't for the Philosophers stone, but just a colt that had been causing some trouble in the west, and was starting to get out of hand. They'd been conning people into giving them their money and then they'd not have enough left, even for taxes.

Amber on the other hand had gone back with Winry to Garfile's. She needed open fields to train on, and there wasn't much of that in Central. She was also going to be studying, as Ed had lent her a bunch of books and a list of the basic things that would be on the State Alchemist Tests.

She wanted to make sure she got in.

* * *

Amber looked at the tree in front of her; or, perhaps not a tree, but a dry shrub, as everything was dray here.

She steadied her breath as she stood in front of a complicated transmutation circle. It was true, she doesn't need a circle, but it made memorizing and perfecting easier on her. While it was easier on the mind to make the different hand signs, it would strain it still to have to think of them on the spot, and make up an equation. Such a thing could potentially cause problems, inaccuracies, and that could be avoided is she trained and made circles to test different equations, while she wasn't in the heat of a fight. It could be done, but it wasn't easy. So, practicing was almost like programing the equation in her mind, so that she almost didn't even have to think about it, and just be able to pick what equation would work best for the situation.

Right now, this equation was something she'd been working on for a whole year now, and each time, there was always something that went wrong in it. But that was when it was just an interest to try it. Now it was a need to know it. This was what she would use in the performance part of the exam. And she would not accept any frailer, no matter how small it would be.

Taking another breath, her eyes determined, she placed her hands over the circle.

It lit up with a blue glow, and the sparks started. She used the sparks, and aimed them at the shrub. Flames surrounded and engulfed the shrub.

"Concentrate…." She thought to herself, staring the flames down.

They were rising, making the hot, dry air even hotter and dryer. She allowed herself a smirk as she watched the raring flames dance. But the smirk faded as soon as she heard a crack and then a wisp of smoke emerged from the fire.

With a sigh of aggravation, she cut the fire out and then looked at where she'd messed up.

The shrub was still intact, nothing burned but for a single leaf. That leaf started at her as if mocking her attempt to control the flames.

She kicked the shrub.

* * *

"So how do you think Amber is doing with her training?" Al asked as he looked at his brother, sitting across from him on the train.

"If I had to guess, she'd be training hard. She probably already knows what she's going to be doing for the performance part." Ed said, voice lazy as he was fighting off the sleep from boredom. "I just hope she doesn't concentrate too much on that…"

"So you're hoping she does get in?" Al asked, thinking about Mustangs reaction. He was on the fence about it himself really. On the one hand, he knew Ed needed to be in the military so that they had funding and access to military records so that restore their bodies, as well as just have money for themselves.

But Amber, she didn't really need that. Mustang was her father, and looked all too willing to help her financially. Of course he didn't know yet about the main reason behind her need for money, which was were Al did understand that Amber needed this. But why didn't she tell him?

"Well, I think that it's her decision. She knows what she's getting into. We did too. Who are we to stop her?"

"I know… It's just that surely Mustang could, and would help her with… you know." After they'd talked about Amber's heart, Al found it hard to actually say it. It had scared him, to be honest. He was afraid for her, and couldn't understand why she'd want to live her life like that.

"I'm sure he would too. But I get the feeling Amber doesn't like to be handed everything."

"Yeah, but-"

"Al, it's like this." Ed was awake now, and there was a bit of fire- not army fire, just a fire- in his eyes. "She knows that at some point, she's going to have to start paying for her own repairs. She could rely on Mustang for now, but she can't forever- what if something were to happen to Mustang? Like I said, at some point down the road, she'll have to start doing things herself.

"The reason she doesn't want to wait though is because she's been taking care of herself, being an independent, for a few years now. She sees no point in waiting, because she's already been through so much that if she were just handed things, she'd feel not just guilty, but uncomfortable.

"To know that you have the power to do the same thing as someone, or more than them and then just sit back and let that someone take care of you? Don't you see Al? That's one of the reasons why she doesn't like Nobles."

Al, if he could blink, would be blinking at Ed in astonishment. He couldn't help noting that the fire in Ed's eyes had not died at all during the speech, and was still there. Before he could stop himself a chuckle escaped him.

Ed blinked at the sudden chuckle and glared at his brother. "What?"

"Oh... Nothing… you just seem to really know Amber... That's all…"

Ed gaped at him as a blush flared to life. "I-I do not! She's said all that! If you listened, you'd have picked up on it!"

"She might have insinuated, but it wasn't very much." Al said, now unable to hold back his chuckling as Ed's face was growing reder and reder. "You must be real special to understand how she feels…"

"No I'm not!"

"I think you are."

"S-shut up!" Ed yelled and turned to look out the window, pouting.

Al managed to control his chuckles for the rest of the ride, but kept glancing at Ed every now and then, where there was still a bit of a blush.

* * *

"Hey, Amber, could you help me with these boxes?" Winry asked, walking by the room that her and Amber shared.

Amber looked up from her book and saw that Winry was carrying a large box with bits and pieces of automail.

"The other boxes are up front. We need to bring them back to the furnace in the back."

"Yeah, sure." Amber got up and marked her page.

She'd been with Winry for three weeks now, her boss Garfile was off visiting family somewhere, so Winry was running the shop until he got back. Amber had been helping her whenever she could, between her studying and training, and occasionally kicking people out that were too load.

She spotted the boxes behind the counter in a small corner. Being who she was, she went to the biggest one. It was about the same size as the one Winry got, so she thought it would be fine.

But Winry had a complete heart. One that wasn't going to be needing work on within this month, or really, this week.

A sharp, unbearable pain shot though her. With a gasp, the box tumbled out of her hands, and on impulse, she tried to catch it, but at the same time, she was also trying to clutch at her chest. Because of this, she fell forward, and suddenly, she couldn't keep her balance, and fell to the floor with the box, its contents crashing out and making a racket.

Her chest was on fire, and it hurt to breath.

Faintly, she heard Winry running in, and suddenly she was right in front of her.

"Amber, what happened?!" she said, helping Amber onto her back.

"Hagh… Hea-t… burning… huh… open… please open!" she managed to get out.

Winry looked down at the spot where the window to her heart was. Ripping the shirt, she found the hatch that kept it closed, and fumbled trying to get it open, unable to stop her fingers from shaking. Finally, by chance her fingers caught on something and the hatch flipped. She opened the small port hole and immediately, a kind of steam and smoke rose from inside, and a relieved sigh escaped Amber's lips.

"Huh…. Much… better…" she got out, before she passed out.

Winry didn't waste any time. She quickly packed meager things, like her tool box, some rags and three canteens of water. She didn't bother calling her grandmother, she only worried about getting Amber to the next train.

She helped Amber into a car and apologies to the people that she was high jacking it from. Going as fast as she could to the train station. She just made it. She didn't both getting a ticket, aiming for the luggage car and snuck Amber and her in.

Once they were settled down, Amber laying on her back on the floor, Winry checked her over, making sure she was still alive.

She saw her breathing and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god…" she muttered. She grabbed the canteen and poured some water onto the rag and began to wipe the sweat off Amber's face and neck, and carefully around the opening in her chest. When she was done with that, she didn't know what else to do aside for wait. She wished that the girl would wake up soon, so Winry could ask what had happened, and what she should also be doing and looking out for. She also wished that there was a phone in this car, because then she could call Granny. She knew that there would be a phone on this car somewhere, but it was most likely near the front, and not open to the public…

After an hour of sitting and doing nothing but listening and feeling to the train move, she glanced at Amber. The girl was still asleep. She'd not be moving for a bit. Sighing, she looked in her tool box for a pencil and found a piece of paper from an old newspaper. She wrote over the newspaper letter as dark as she could and made Amber a note, telling her to stay put when she woke up, and to hide if someone came back here. As for hiding her as she was now, Winry just made a small cubby between some trunks and placed her there.

With a silent prayer that she'd still be alive when she got back, Winry crept out of the car.

It took her an hour, which felt like ten, to get to the right car. She'd had to wait till there weren't any train employees, looking for peoples tickets. As soon as they left the car she'd be coming in, and thankfully, no one paid any attention to her as she strolled across the car to the next.

This was really going to be the tricky part. Getting to a phone.

They were really for military use, but Amber really needed to get to one.

There was no window to this car, so she had to just risk it and peak in. Inside the car, there was a narrow hall, windows lining the left, and compartments running to the right, not in glass, but wood panels.

No one was in the hall, so she slipped in, and went to the first compartment, putting her ear to the warm wood and listening for any movement. Snoring.

"Not that one. Try the next." She told herself.

The next compartment was occupied too, as well as the next. She was beginning to panic when she got to the last, and sighed silently in relief, slipping in with as little sound as she could manage. She locked the door and turned to look at the small compartment.

She walked up to the nearest phone and dialed up her Grandmother's phone.

After a few rings, she heard the phone pick up on the other end.

"Hello? Pinoko Rockbell speaking."

"Granma!" Winry whispered urgently.

"Winry? What's wrong dear, are you alright?" Granny's voice was worried.

"Amber, the girl I told you about. Something happened and she collapsed. I can't tell you all the details right now, aside from it was caused by her heart. I need to you be ready to operate, because we're on our way there now. If you could find someone to pick us up, that'd be great to."

"Winry… Alright. How long do you think it'll take you to get here?"

"We should be there in in three hours." Winry said, "I've got to make another call, so I'll have to talk to you when I get there."

"Alright…" and there was a click at the other end.

Winry immediately dialed up one of the neighboring shops of Garfile's.

"Hello? Automatic Auto's Shop. How can I-"

"Auto? Hey, this is Winry." Winry said, talking to the owner of the shop.

"Winry? What's up? I saw you run off…"

"Yeah, about that, could you tell GarfileI went home when he gets back? And if you see the Elric brother's before, that, could you tell them?"

"Ah… yeah, no problem. Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's all, thanks." Winry then hung up and sighed in relief.

She thought about contacting Mustang, but thought it better not to do it right now, when she was clearly unauthorized to be using these phones. She put it away in her head to call his office when she got to Granny's.

With that, she looked outside the compartment and nearly had a heart attack when she saw the blue coat of a soldier. Looking up, her terror grew as she saw just who it was.

_**AN: BEWAHAHAHAHAH! Cliff hanger!**_

_**So, what do you guys think? Was there any confusion? I was kinda watching I Frankenstein while I wrote this, so I might have forgotten to add something that would have clarified anything, but I'm too tired right now to go back and make sure.**_


	7. Chap 7: Soul

**Chap. 7: Soul**

Ed glared at the figure before him.

"Where is she?" he said, his patients running thin.

"Well, my son said she'd left about three hours ago… Let see, where did he say she was going…?"

"Mom, what's going on?" came a voice from behind the boys.

Ed and Al turned to see the owner of the shop. When he spotted the brothers, he looked slightly surprised.

"Oh, hey, you're Winry's friends, aren't you?" Auto asked.

"Ah, yeah. We just finished a mission and were going to meet her and our other friend, Amber, here before we headed to Winry's home. But the shop was all closed up."

"You're mother said that they left three hours ago. Could you tell us where they went?" Al asked.

"Yeah, Winry said that she was heading to her granny's with that girl, Amber. You said you were supposed to meet here?"

"Yeah…" Ed said, already forming a bad feeling.

"Well… They seemed to have been in a bit of a rush. Winry even commandeered a car. She was speeding off in the direction to the train station, like she needed to get on the next train, which I think was already in the station at the time…"

The bad feeling increased.

His voice shaking slightly, he asked, "Did she mention why they were in a rush exactly…?"

"No, sorry." Auto said, feeling sorry for Ed, as he could clearly see something must be wrong. Wanting to do something for them, he said, "If it's any held, the next train should be here any minute now. If you hurry, you can get tickets before their sold out…"

Ed immediately dashed off, calling back, "Thanks!" while Al was caught by surprise, and bowed slightly in apologies for Ed's behavior.

"Thank you…" he said and then took off after his brother.

He didn't bother asking what Ed thought was wrong, as Al was sure he had a good idea of what it was.

They got to the train station just as the train was pulling in and Ed got their tickets hurriedly, and then the brothers were on the train.

Now Ed was impatient for the train to start moving.

* * *

Winry was shaking as she looked up at the face.

His face cast in a dark shadow, and the look of darkness was only increased by his black hair and black eyes.

"Winry, _what_ is going on?" Mustang said through his teeth.

"Ah… um…" Winry had heard that Mustang didn't know about her condition, including her limbs.

"Winry. I heard you talking about Amber. Something about her heart. _What is going on?"_

"Sh-She has automail… Sir…" Winry said shakily.

This seemed to snap Mustang out of his anger and it was replaced with shock. It didn't last long, and when he focused back on Winry, it was back, though not quite as hard, as the shock was still running though him.

"And her heart? You said something about it…"

"Yeah… Yeah… It's automail… too…" She saw disbelief cross his face.

"No… That's not possible…"

"It is sir… You'd have to ask her how, but it is." Winry said, feeling a bit stronger.

"Where is she?"

Winry ducked her head in guilt and embarrassment. "Um, in the luggage compartment. I didn't have time to get tickets, so I had to sneak us on-"

"It doesn't matter. Take me to her. I'll get us a private compartment."

Winry just nodded as she slipped out of the phone compartment and made her way down the hall. She blushed when she realized that Halkeye was there as well.

"Riza, go and find an empty compartment."

"Yes, Sir." Halkeye said and started off in the opposite direction.

Mustang nodded for Winry to continue and she went through the door. It was funny how long it had taken her to get there, with all her sneaking, but now that she was able to just walk though, and it _didn't_ take as long, she felt like it'd taken five more hours than it had sneaking.

Finally, though, they got to the luggage car that Amber was hiding in and Winry pulled the luggage away from her. She was still unconscious, which Winry took as a bit of a blessing- she was afraid that the sight of Mustang might scare the girl, and that was the last thing Amber needed.

She heard Mustang gasp and when she turned to look, Mustang had turned around and was hunched over, his hand over his mouth, trying to stop himself from throwing up.

While Winry hadn't had as bad a reaction as that, she could understand why _he_ would react this way. This was his _daughter_, and this was the first he'd even heard of it. She'd at least had a more advanced warning. Mustang must still have been in the stages of denying that such a thing were possible. And to see it before he accepted it as even possible...

Her lips formed a grim line as she thought of what must be going through Mustang's head. She turned back to Amber and saw that she'd formed more sweat. Dousing the rag again, she wiped it away.

She looked back at Mustang when she heard him move and saw that he was standing straight again.

"Sir…?"

"I'm alright now… How is she?" he said turning back around after taking a breath, mentally preparing himself.

"She's still stable. We should probably move her now." Winry said, getting up.

Mustang nodded and looked around for a second and found what he was looking for, a blanket.

He threw it over Amber's front, so that her chest wouldn't be exposed as they moved through the cars- both to hide the window, and for the sake of modesty. Picking her up bridle style, he nodded for Winry to open the doors.

People were curious as they moved though they compartments and stared, but stopped when Mustang sent a glare at them.

They reached the car with the passenger compartments and found Riza in one of them. They set Amber down on one of the cushioned benches and they sat on the other. After making sure that she was still okay, Mustang turned to Winry again.

"I want you to explain what happened. Amber can tell me how she got like this, but I want to know how she got like she is currently."

"She's been having problems with her heart all month, sir… When Ed and Al first met her, she'd gone to her room and started coughing and ended up choking on blood. They got her to the hospital in time, but it turned out it was just the automail part of her heart starting to fail." Mustang cringed at this, probably more to the fact that it was only part of the heart, not the whole thing- Ed and Al had expressed much the same, feeling that it would be worse.

"She said that this was the last month it had, and that she'd need to get it repaired by the end of the month or…" she shuddered, not able to say it. After collecting herself, she continued. "She was going to go to Granny to get it fixed, and we'd made plans but something happened. I'd asked her to help me with bringing some boxes of scrap parts to the back.

"I heard her drop the box and her gasp… when I got to her, she was trying to open… open the window on her chest… When I did, steam and a bit of smoke came out, but it seemed to have helped her a lot, because she looked relieved after that. I've kept it slightly open since…"

Mustang had been leaning forward, looking at his daughter's face. He shut his eyes, and bowed his head, hands on his forehead. Why hadn't she told me…? He thought. It was the only thing that went through his head as the train continued on to Resembool.

* * *

Ed was on the verge of a rampage. Al watched as the small pulsing tick formed over his older brother's right eye. He wished he could do something for his brother, but knew he couldn't. They could only wait as the train made its way to Resembool. On his part, Al _was_ worried, but he knew it was nowhere near as much as Ed. Weather Ed wanted to admit it or not, Al could tell he had certain feelings for the Xing girl. He wasn't sure of the extent of the feelings, but he was sure that protective was one of them.

Amber's heart had obviously acted up earlier than they expected. And the fact that they didn't know what condition she was in worried them more. All they could do was hope that she was going to make it to Granny's in time.

* * *

_Amber looked around the empty room of the warehouse. Before her lay the most complicated of alchemy circles._

_A human transmutation circle._

_But it was far more complicated than even the regular one. It was made so by the added alchehestry symbols. _

_At the center was a pile of all the components to make a human:_

_Water: 35 ltb_

_Carbohydrates: 20 kg_

_Ammonia: 2ltb_

_Calcium: 1.5 kg_

_Adenosine: 800 g_

_Salt: 250 g_

_Nitrogen: 100 g_

_Sulfur: 80 g_

_Fluoride: 7.5 g_

_Silicon: 3 g_

_And trace amounts of 15 other elements._

_One of those elements being her own blood, which would explain the pain in her wrist, as she had slit it to get enough blood into the mix. She could feel the itch of the wrap she had on it, and feel the pulsing of her arm and hand as the blood tried to flow through the tight wrap._

_She breathed deeply, concentrating in her mind what she wanted done._

"_Mother." She whispered, and then slammed her hands onto the rim of the circle._

_She watched the pile in the middle start to shift, gather and part, and then gather again, forming into recognizable shapes. It all looked to be going well, she could make out certain body parts. She was concentrating on this so much that she did not realize what was happening around her- the blue alchemy light turning to a sinister purple, and the sparks crackling threatheningly- until something in her burned. _

_Collapsing to the floor, she yelled in agony as more pain started at other places in her body: her right upper arm; the middle of her right upper leg; and then the middle of her left shin. _

_But the worst pain remained to be the one in her chest. _

_She finally managed to get herself to look at what was wrong, and screamed at what was left of her limbs, before passing out._

_And then she was in an odd place. An expanse of White everywhere. There seemed to be no end or beginning above, or to the side, but there seemed to be a floor. It was not cold, or warm, or hot. There just wasn't a temperature. _

_She looked down at herself, fearing what she would see, but driven by morbid curiosity. _

_Her limbs were back. And she had no pain in her chest. It was as if nothing had happened to her at all. When she looked up again, she was startled to see a large gate in front of her that was not there before._

"_Welcome…" came a voice, neither male nor female, though sinister for sure. _

_She turned to see who it had been and found a shape on the ground. It was white, with the outline of a human, and surrounded in an aura of black, and seemed to have no dimension._

"_Who are you?" she asked._

"_Oh, you are certainly the interesting on, Al-che-hest…" it said, almost hissing the last word. "Most ask '_What_ are you' but you asked '_Who_ are you'. I'm quite flattered."_

_Amber only started, unsure if she should be scared or not._

"_To answer your question though, it depends on what you believe. Some call me God, some call me Truth, and some even call me _Life_. But there is something that few are able to _accept_. Would you be able to accept it, Al-che-hest…? Hmm…?"_

"_What is it?" she asked._

"_I am _you_." _

"_You are me?" she asked, not fearful, but inquiring._

"_I am everyone. I am what _drives_ them. Their _emotions_, their _actions_. I'm not always the same, for everybody is not the same. But I am always me, and always, 'me' will be you."_

_Amber nodded. She understood what was being said. She already knew that everyone had a something inside them that connected them all. This must be it._

"_You're the soul." She said, and then nodded her head, as if coming to a decision. "You are Soul." _

"_So, you have accepted that I am you? Yet again, you have proven to be interesting." Soul smiled, a large one, with larger than normal teeth. "Let us see how interesting you will be after this…" _

_There came a creak behind her and she turned to find that the gate was opening. There was utter blackness beyond. When the doors were completely open, the blackness was split by a giant eye opening up, and looking down at her. Then, small hands, attached to wavy arms reached out and grabbed her. _

_For the first time since coming to this place, she was afraid, but she was not able to act on that fear. She could not move as the hands grabbed her and lifted her up and brought her into the gate._

_The gate doors closed once again, and she found herself surrounded by figures of children, all pitch black with purple eyes. _

_They laughed and giggled as they tugged at her, and with horror, she realized they were taking her limbs. She watched as her legs and arm disintegrated. It did not hurt though, just horrified her._

_Her eyes then caught on to something. Things were flying past her, images, playing different things, from different times, from present to past. _

_She looked at them, unable to stop. It hurt her head, as information was being poured in and being trapped. And just as she was realizing what it would take to bring back a human, she found herself staring at that white expanse again. _

_She looked behind herself to see the gate doors closing._

"_What was all that?" she asked, still looking at the Gate._

"_That was the World. History. Your life." Soul said._

_Amber looked back around at Soul. "What do I do now?"_

"_You go back. You live, you die, and then you return here. But you'll be leaving these with me." When he said that, pain erupted all over her body as her limbs were once again taken but this time, there was pain. And this time, there was the pain in her chest again, so unbearable that it over rode the rest of the pain._

"_Until we meet again, Al-che-hest…." _

* * *

Amber woke up suddenly, a gasp escaping her. She blinked, seeing the wood panel ceiling and a window right above her head. She noticed a bit of cloud, slowly moving across the window and then out of sight. There was a slight rocking and an occasional jostles. Finally, her ears registered the sound of a train on tracks.

So I'm on a train… But why- Oh yeah…

It all came back to her. Her picking up the box. Pain in her chest, hot like a burning coal. Dropping the box, and falling with it. Winry. Asking the mechanic to open the window on her chest. Pain intensifying, hotter and hotter. A click, and sudden and immense relief as cool air rushed out the steam and smoke. And then blackness.

So where was Winry now? She turned her neck, wincing at how stiff it was, and found herself looking at three people.

The first was Winry, looking panicked, worried, and when she saw Amber awake, and looked in her eyes, apologetic. What was with that…?

She saw the next person to be that blond woman with the reddish/brown eyes, which were always alert and were looking at her. There was no emotion on her face. Something about her being here made Amber uneasy. She'd come to find that this women- Riza, that was her name- was always accompanying her father, as she was his lieutenant.

So… if she was here….

Horror started to fill her as she finally realized who the third person was.

_**AN: Woot, I'm loving this creative streak. **_

_**So, what did you guys think? Did I get the Gate scene good? I know it's different from the original, but I've not seen it in a while, so was going off of memory. And what do you think of my naming it Soul? I understand if you think I should change that, and I might if you feel strongly about it. **_

_**R&R and tell me what you guys think. **__**^_^**_


	8. Chap 8: Sorrow

**Chap. 8: Sorrow**

Mustang's face, much as it had been for Winry, was cast in the shadow of anger, though Amber was not to know that it was much less as scary as it had been with Winry. In it were also worry and fear.

Amber resembled a cornered tiger. Her eyes widened and the hairs on her arm and the back of her neck stood up, and her heart was starting to ach as it started beating faster.

"Try to stay calm, Amber…!" Winry said, breaking some of the Xing girl's concentration on her father. "Your heart isn't in good shape right now and you know that."

Shakily, she removed her eyes from Mustang and looked at the blanket covering her. She took a few breaths, sorting her thoughts and thinking of something to say. Anger was her dominant emotion, so it was what she reverted to naturally.

"Why are you here?" she asked with clenched teeth.

Almost before she could say the last word, Mustang was talking.

"I have every damn right to be here!" he barked. Calmer, he said, "And before you go and bite Winry's head off, no, she didn't contact me. I saw her sneak into the military's private phone compartment, and wanted to know what she was up to. I followed her and listened in on what she was saying.

"What I found out was that my daughter has to get surgery to fix her _automail_ heart!" He was close to yelling again, but it wasn't quite high enough. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" he said after a few seconds of silence.

"I was going to… I just didn't want to _yet_."

"Why?!"

Amber winced, but then looked him in the eye, her own burning compared to his hard, cold stare. "Because I knew you would try harder to stop me from joining the military."

"Of course I would have! You're in no condition to be a fit soldier-"

"I am! I may not be right now, but when I'm not dealing with these problems, I'm stronger than probably ten of your best soldiers."

There was a laps of silence, as the two tried to calm themselves.

Finally, Mustang spoke again. "Huh… And let me guess, you need the money for repairs don't you?"

"Yes…"

"Then why-"

"Because I don't want to relay of others. And I need to deal with the punishment of my actions." She chuckled darkly at the last statement.

Mustang looked at her in horror. Punishment? Her Actions? All of a sudden, the image of her crying in his office over the death of her mother came to his mind. He hadn't realized it at the time, but the grief in her eyes was practically the same as Ed and Al's. The horror on his face increased as the realization took hold.

"You… tried to bring her back. Didn't you?" he said, frowning down at her with shock, more fear, and sorrow for his daughter.

She looked at him, and back down, nodding. She'd lost her spark.

His eyes widened. Thinking it was a possibility was one thing; it could always be proved wrong. But now that she'd just confirmed it, there was no "possibility" anymore. It was cold, hard fact.

What if she'd ended up like Al? Hell, she couldn't have. She wouldn't have been able to be put in a vessel, unless she were with someone. That gave him another pause.

"Did you… have someone else with you?"

"No… I did it by myself… I know it was stupid, but I didn't have anyone but me."

"And you managed to get away? How? Alphonse lost his whole body, and even that hadn't been enough for the trade, as they took Edward's right leg. The price you paid…"

She nodded. "I almost died." The tears were starting to well up. She was a used to telling what had happened, always able to talk to people about it with only the dark voice. But to talk to her own father about it was harder than she'd have thought.

"I just… How… is it possible? How were you able to survive? Even a little of your heart missing should be enough to kill you. Add that to the fact that you were missing three limbs… It just doesn't seem possible…"

Amber nodded. "It almost wasn't. But I'd been in what I thought was an abandon building, I think it was a warehouse, but I can't be certain, I've forgotten all of that. I only think I remember it because I have nightmares, but they're always fuzzy when I wake up. Anyway, someone saw the light of the reaction, and managed to get me somewhere."

"And… your heart? It really has a quarter of it gone?"

"Yes. But I guess you might think it worse than that. Because my heart has automail, it has some parts on it that could damage my lungs, shredding them. So in order to keep that from happening, its placed in a dome, separating it from everything else." She said, and even though she knew that her father and Halkeye were now looking at her with new horror, she continued. "It also makes for operating easier. That's also why the window, so I don't have to be cut open each time I need to get repairs, as well as being able to open it up when something like what just happened happens.

"It doesn't happen a whole lot though. Only when its extremely hot, or if the heart is starting to malfunction, which only happens if it's failing or the repair job wasn't done right.

"But you know, it's really not as bad as you might think. I only need repairs every two years for my heart. My limbs are a lot tougher to deal with though. They need repairs just as often as the Elrics', and I'm pretty sure you know what that would be, especially you Winry. Really, the only thing that sucks the most is when it's cold, or about to rain."

She was unable to continued, as something was choking off anything more. She realized her face and neck were completely wet, as if someone had just thrown water on her. The water was warm. It must have been salt water too, because her eyes burned slightly and she could feel the sting of it on her lips and taste it on her tongue.

Silence stretched on, no one able to say anything. Before they knew it, the train was stopping and the conductor announced that they had reached Resenbool.

They got off the train, Mustang having to carry Amber again, as she was still too weak to walk by herself.

She barely noticed the landscape as they made their way to Granny Pinoko's in the vehicle that the old woman had sent for them.

No one talked. There was so much tension that it probably rivaled any other tension in the country.

Finally, though, they reached the Rockbell residence and with hardly any recollection of how it happened, Amber found herself in a surgery room with Winry and some old woman looking down at her asking questions. Dully, she was aware that she was answering without really registering what they or she was saying. She was on autopilot.

The last thing she saw before she passed out was Mustang. He'd grabbed her hand and when she looked, she saw sorrowful pride. "What an odd look on your face…" she'd muttered, and he smirked.

"You know, I think your mother said that to me once…" he patted her head lightly, "I'll tell you about it after you get out of surgery."

And then she was out.

* * *

Mustang wiped the single tear that started to fall from her eye.

"No more crying…" he muttered.

Then he felt a hand on his arm and looked to find Winry looking at him sadly.

"I'm sorry, Mustang, but it's probably best that you wait out in the living room. No offense, but you'd probably be in the way here…"

Mustang nodded. "I understand." He said, and stood, leaving, giving Amber one last glance before shutting the door.

He walked to the living room and sat heavily on the couch.

Riza had gone to town to buy some food, so it left Mustang alone with his thoughts. He found himself reminiscing about what he'd just told his daughter about her mother.

_~Flashback~_

_He was meeting her at the café. They'd been together for about five days. _

_When he saw her, he smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. While they talked, he soon forgot to smile, and she noticed._

"_Roy, is there something wrong?"_

"_Hmm…?"_

"_You look depressed… Not as much as when we first met, but still… Did something happen…?"_

_He contemplated if telling her was okay, and decided there was no harm in it. _

"_One of my friends. He said he'd be there for me no matter what happened. That he'd support me and help push me to the top."_

"_Did he betray you…?"_

"_No… The exact opposite, actually. No, it's more like I've just realized what trouble I'm putting him in. And yet he…" he drifted off, looking sad, but there was a sense of pride in his friend._

"_My, that's an odd face you have there." She said chuckling slightly._

_Mustang blinked and looked at her. "What?"_

"_You look so sad, but you also look proud. It makes for an interesting combination."_

"_Heh… Yeah, I guess it would, huh…? I am sad that I'm going to be putting him in danger. I know it'll cause him problems in the future. I've told him that he could even get killed… But, Hughes wouldn't back down. Said he'd rather go down fighting to help a friend then to sit back and watch that friend fight for themselves."_

"_He is a truly loyal friend…" Akeira said, and put a hand on his. "Such a thing is hard to find anymore. Do not try and discourage that loyalty."_

_Mustang frowned and looked down. His voice strained, he said, "But I don't want him to risk his life for my sake!" he banged his fist on the table top, drawing some attention._

_Akeira smiled in sad understanding. "Think of it this way. You're friend, he is in the military, right?"_

"_Yes…"_

"_Well then he's already accepted that he may die. For you or for his coutry, or for his family, he is risking his life anyway. His reasoning is probably this: He has so much faith in you that he is willing to risk his life for you, because if you succeed, than he'd have also risked his life for his country and his family."_

"_And what if I don't succeed?" he asked, looking Akeira in the eyes._

"_Do you go into a battle caring about what happens if you don't win?"_

"_N…. no…" he said, and smiled. "Heh… Akeira, you really know how to slap me into perspective."_

_She smiled as well. "Well, someone has to, or else you're helpless, and helpless doesn't suit you. It ruins your good looks."_

_~End Flashback~_

Mustang was pulled out of his thoughts as the front door to the house slammed open and Ed stood there, his face in a terrible display of worry.

The young Alchemist was looking around the room and then realized that his superior was there.

"Wh- Mustang….? Wh-at are you doing here….?" Ed asked, watching as Mustang had gotten up and walked over to him. Before Ed could react, Mustangs fist raised and slammed down on Ed's head.

"Ah! Hey what the hell was that for?!" Ed yelled holding the spot already feeling a bump forming.

"That was for not telling me about her condition!"

In the back of his mind, Ed had already drawn the conclusion that Mustang knew when he'd seen the Flame Alchemist laying out on the couch. Still, he found himself saying, "So… you know…?"

"I know everything… Her limbs, her heart; why she wants to join the military; how she ended up like this…" Suddenly, Mustang felt weak himself and it was only Ed and Al's arms that kept him from completely falling. They carried him back to the couch and lay him down again.

"How could I have been so stupid…? I should have known. The way she looked when she told me about her mother… There was more there than just knowing she'd lost her mother. I was just too blind to see that it was identical to how you looked… Dimmit…" his fist was on his face, trying to keep himself from crying. Not in front of the boys. Not after all that they'd suffered. Not after all that Amber had suffered.

Ed looked away, not wanting to see Mustang cry. He could be a pain at times, but Ed did have a lot of respect for the man. He didn't want to see him weak.

After a moment, Ed finally asked, and felt slightly selfish for it, but had to know, "So how is she? We came as soon as we heard that they'd rushed here."

"She was unconscious when I first saw her, but she was stable. When she woke up, it almost seemed like she might have problems… I'll admit, I probably didn't help that much." He felt sick with himself at how he'd risked putting her in more harm just because he was angry and wanted answers. "But she remained stable through the whole ride.

"When we got here, Pinoko was already ready for the surgery. I had no idea that automail for the heart could be done, but Pinoko seems to have known just what to do…"

"That's probably because Amber had a blueprint of how it's built. She sent it here as soon as Pinoko said she'd do it, but that she'd need to study it for a bit to know how it works."

"How long have you two known about all of this?"

"We found out the first day we met her that she had at least an arm of automail. It wasn't until after she had an attack from her heart starting to fail that she revealed the extent of her automail. And even then, we hadn't known about the dome surrounding her heart and the window…"

"But why didn't you tell me? I should have known about this sooner."

"We thought she would tell you in her own time. I don't think she planned on burdening you with it so soon after you met her…" Ed said, sitting down. "I think she planned on telling you when it was all fixed, so that it wouldn't worry you that it had problems."

Mustang nodded, understanding but still not liking her decision. "And how would that have worked out? She said the surgery is expensive, so how is she going to pay for it?"

"Granny said that she'd do it for free the first time." Al said. "She said that since it was something new to her, she'd be considered a novice at it and she doesn't want to be paid for novice work."

Ed smirked, "Yeah, but I think that's just her lame excuse to say that she didn't want to charge her because she feels sorry for her. After all, my first automail was free, and she was no novice."

Silence fell and they could only sit and wait out the surgery.

Ed and Mustang had dozed off, exhausted from their worries, and of course Al remained awake and alert.

It was dark by the time Al heard the door to the operation room open and Winry walked out, spots of blood- some big, some little- dotted all over her operation gown. Her face was still covered by the mask, and above them were tired, slightly tearful eyes.

"W… Winry?! What's wrong?!" Al asked, almost shouting when he a saw the tears. It woke Ed and Mustang and the looked immediately at the girl.

"Amber…" Mustang muttered, feeling dread clench at his own heart.

"Winry what happened? Is Amber okay?" Ed asked. He felt numb. Somehow, he knew that if Amber was not okay, that she was… gone… he would never feel anything again.

The tears fell and Winry collapse to the floor, her legs weak.

"Amber is…." She muttered, voice muffled by the mask. "I… I can't believe it…"


End file.
